By THE OBSERVER UG
A family in Luwero is seeking financial help to return the remains of their son who was allegedly beaten to death whilst in police cells in Egypt.
However, on December 27, 2023, the family living at Kigombe village in Luwero sub-county and fellow students lost contact with him before embarking on the search for his whereabouts.
Sheikh Ramadhan Mulindwa, the Luwero District Kadhi narrates that on January 5, 2024, they got communication from the Ugandan Embassy in Egypt that his brother Mukasa was killed in the First Settlement police station cells after he was arrested upon being found with no visa at the time.
He says that although Mukasa had a visa to stay in Egypt, by the time he was arrested he had not moved with it amongst his documents. Mulindwa adds that the embassy informed them that Mukasa was allegedly beaten to death while in police cells, and they should look for Shs 15 million to transport his remains back home.
Mulindwa says that the family has since appealed to the ministry of Foreign Affairs to help them pursue justice and transport back the deceased because they are unable to raise the funds.
The family has managed to collect only Shs 3 million out of Shs 15 million needed to transport the remains to his ancestral home back in Uganda. Nusurah Nalwoga, the mother of the deceased says that she is in pain after learning about the death of her son under unclear circumstances.
Hussein Kato Sebwato, the brother to the deceased narrates that he last spoke to Mukasa on December 22, 2023, who informed him about the ongoing operations to arrest foreigners without visas. Sebwato says that he advised Mukasa to be vigilant.
Sebwato, a former student in Egypt also narrated how he survived narrowly to be killed after he was abducted by a militia in 2020 in the same country.
In a letter dated January 5, 2024, shared with the Uganda Embassy in Cairo and the family, the district prosecutor Ismail Hafeez ordered the chief of the First Settlement police department to investigate two suspects; Noor Muhammad Ali Abdulalbaky and Muhammad Sharif Salaama Alsobby over the death of Mukasa.
Hafeez also ordered a medical health officer to carry out a postmortem on the deceased and ensure all those who are responsible are prosecuted. He also ordered an investigating officer to establish the circumstances that led to the death of Mukasa.
He also tasked the police chief to notify Uganda’s embassy and the family about the death of Mukasa as well as write a report on the matter. The case is being investigated under file number 247/2024.
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