Remains in Uganda to be exhumed, re-buried

Thousands of bodies of victims of the 1994 genocide against Tutsi who were thrown in rivers and ended up in Lake Victoria in Uganda, then buried in mass graves, will finally be exhumed and re-buried in a more secure environment, The New Times has established. The development was confirmed yesterday by Rwandan Ambassador to Uganda, Ignatius Karegesa Kamali, adding that the commemoration will take place in Rakai District at one of the mass graves. “We met the Ugandan Foreign Minister and he gave us a go ahead to carry on the exercise but it will be done after the government of Uganda sensitizes the community around the shores of Lake Victoria,” Kamali said. The situation of the remains in Uganda has been a matter of contention especially following a visit by a parliamentary delegation from Kigali which found the sites in an alarming state. The report by the lawmakers indicated that some remains are used witchcraft a fact that led to some sections of Rwandans calling for the repatriation of the remains for a decent burial in Rwanda. According to the Ambassador, ample preparations will be carried out and exhumation and reburial in Uganda will kick of any time after Easter. Tens of thousands of Genocide victims were washed away down the rivers of Nyabarongo and Akagera, both tributaries of Lake Victoria, and landed at different shores of East Africa’s biggest lake. Villagers, Red Cross workers and volunteers hastily buried the decomposing remains in six different mass graves around Lake Victoria’s fishing village of Kasensero in Uganda’s Southern district of Rakai Ends

National

Remains in Uganda to be exhumed, re-buried