The body was found in a garden in Kasenda Sub County in 2007. Police at that time believed that the body could be that of Reverend Father Anthony Kiiza who went missing that year
Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital is still stuck with the skeletal remains of an unidentified person brought to the health facility eleven years ago.
The body was found in a garden in Kasenda Sub County in 2007. Police at that time believed that the body could be that of Reverend Father Anthony Kiiza who went missing that year.
On June 28, 2007, Father Kiiza, who was a parish priest of Kamwenge Catholic Parish and also the chairperson of Kamwenge District Service Commission, went missing at the home of Peter Beyunga, a former district councillor for Kasenda Sub-county, Kabarole District.
Results from the DNA test conducted in a London laboratory shows that the body did not belong to Father Kiiza. The DNA sample was compared against that of Kiiza's parents and it turned out negative.
The laboratory also conducted a bone analysis to establish the actual age of the deceased person and found that the body was of a 40-year-old person, and yet Kiiza was 54 years at the time of his disappearance. Two other DNA tests conducted in South Africa all turned out negative.
But 11 years later, the remains are still in the mortuary.
Dr Florence Tugumisirize, the Hospital Director, says that she doesn't have any other information about the body since it was taken to the hospital before she joined.
David Ndikumwami, a worker at the Hospital Mortuary, says the body has since been wrapped in a polythene bag and stored in one of the refrigerators at the facility. He says that the remains can't be buried because they are yet to hear from the police.
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However, Vincent Ssekate, the spokesperson Directorate of Criminal Investigations, says that the police no longer have interest in the remains.
“The DNA tests were made and it was found that the body was not for Father Kiiza. So as police, we no longer have interest in that body,” Ssekate says.
Although hospitals have authority to bury unclaimed bodies, Ssekate says it is legal for police to order for storage of a body for many years, provided investigations are ongoing.
Ndikumwami says that the remains can only be buried after getting official communication from the police.
Christopher Tusiime
Guest