KAMPALA-The Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga has on July 23, asked the Prime Minister, Ruhakana Rugunda to give Ugandans an account of the Kibwetere massacre that has remained unexplained for 19 years.
Hon Kadaga said that the time is appropriate for Ugandans to receive an official report about government’s investigations and why the survivors have never been compensated.
Hon Kadaga’s directive followed a question that was raised by the Leader of Opposition Betty Aol, who questioned when the report on Kibwetere massacre would be made public.
Reports are indicating that the government was blocked from accessing the land which was housing Kibwetere’s church by a one Benon Byaruhanga to construct a tourism site in memory of the victims.
Joseph Kibwetere was one of the leaders of the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God, a group that splintered from the Roman Catholic Church in Uganda and became infamous after 778 of its members were found dead from an inferno.
Although it was initially assumed that Kibwetere died in the incident the Ugandan police shortly afterwards issued a warrant for arrest against him and the other leaders of the group and in 2014 Police announced that there were reports that Kibwetere was hiding in Malawi.
In March 2000, the group began slaughtering cattle and buying massive amounts of Coca-Cola. These events did not initially raise an alarm, but they were preparing for a feast shortly before their tragic death.
On March 17, in the same year, Kibweteere apparently died in the group’s mass suicide.
A member of Kibweteere’s family stated that Joseph’s actions were completely influenced by Credonia Mwerinde.
Minister of State For Housing, Chris Baryomunsi told Parliament that although the Ministry Of Tourism had proposed to construct a tourism monument at the site where the massacre took place, the plans have since been quashed by Benon Byaruhanga, the owner of the land that is demanding a hefty compensation from government before it can be taken over.
“The Prime Minister should come here and give us a report and end this 19-year-old saga. We want an official report from Government, what happened to the investigations?” The Speaker quizzed.
