Ugandan woman who died in Oman laid to rest

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The body of a young Ugandan woman who died in Oman early last month has finally been laid to rest at her ancestral home in Rukungiri district.

The 22-year-old Shivan Kihembo died in Oman on October 05th, 2018 where he had gone to work as a house help. Her parents, Patrick Mugume and Kedrace Mugume, say their daughter is said to have died in her room in Ibra town in Oman where she was working.

Kihembo was convinced to go to Oman for greener pastures by a one Dalaus, who hails from Rubaare in Ntungamo district. She is said to have traveled to Oman through a Kenyan company identified as Aljazeera with the help of Dalaus.

The same company reportedly has a branch in Kabuusu in Kampala. Following Kihembo’s death, her family cried out for help to return her body for burial at her ancestral home in Rushaaru-Nyibingo Village in Kebisoni Sub-county Rukungiri district.

Mugume says he sold his land and received some contributions from his relatives and well-wishers to raise money to transport his daughter’s remains from Oman to Uganda. The body arrived in Ugandan on October 30th as was laid to rest Wednesday.

Speaking to mourners during the funeral service, Mugume said the postmortem report shows that his daughter succumbed to hypoxia, which occurs when the body is deprived of adequate oxygen supply at the tissue level.

Nelson Atukunda, an uncle to the deceased, says his niece was forced to travel to Oman in search of better pay. He wants the company that trafficked their daughter to Oman to compensate them for her death.

The Kebisoni Sub county LCIII Chairperson, Charles Kahaani blasted government for failure to regulate private companies involved in labor export especially to Arab countries.

According to Kahaani, many Ugandans sent to these countries are exposed to torture all forms of exploitation because the labor export firms only focus on profits.

Recently, the Gender, Labour and social Development Minister, Janat Mukwaya revealed that Ugandans working in Dubai, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman are on their own.

She said only Saudi Arabi and Jordan were cleared by government to import labor from Uganda.