The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
By Ronald Musoke
Prof. Kanyeihamba represents businessman in unusual case
In an unprecedented case, a local businessman from eastern Uganda is threatening to sue the U.S. embassy to recover or be compensated for a “priceless cargo of celestial particles” he entrusted with it.
Details of the case indicate that the businessman, Cornelius Kodet, in 1992 deposited a meteorite weighing approximately 5kg with the U.S. embassy in Kampala for safe keeping. The meteorite was part of a larger one that had crashed to earth in Mbale on August 14 1992.
The unusual case is being pursued by renowned lawyer and former judge of the Supreme Court of Uganda, Justice George Kanyeihamba, on behalf of Kodet.
On April 17, Prof. Kanyeihamba attempted to serve the US Embassy with an ‘intent to sue letter’ but was blocked from accessing the embassy. He promptly called a press conference to protest the “ill treatment”. He recounted how he and his client were made to wait for over two hours and even when he sought permission after driving to the ambassador’s residence in Kololo, he did not succeed in having the letter delivered and signed.
“Is this the way the American Government treats senior citizens?” Kanyeihamba asked. “Suppose I was carrying information that the embassy was in danger, would it have reached in time?”
See Kanyeihamba’s letter of intent to sue here.
