(Jinja) — A group of Muslims in Jinja carried the body of an unidentified woman over a perimeter wall on October 23, 2024, to access the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) cemetery. This act was in protest of Jinja Regional Referral Hospital’s (JRRH) decision to construct a wall that blocked the cemetery’s only entrance.
According to the protestors, the body had been kept in the mortuary for nearly three weeks, as they waited in vain for the government to reopen the gate. “We can no longer afford to keep the body due to the expenses involved,” explained Hajji Abubaker Maganda, the former speaker of Jinja City Council, who was part of the group.
Faced with no other option, the family of the deceased used a wooden ladder to carry the body over the wall, drawing a large crowd as they made their way into the graveyard. The incident highlighted growing tensions between the Muslim community and JRRH, following the construction of the wall by the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) engineering brigade. The hospital contracted the UPDF to build the fence to prevent encroachment on the land, which has been the subject of a long-standing dispute between the hospital and UMSC.
The four-acre plot of land in question, located along Baxi Road near Jinja Senior Secondary School and Jinja School of Nursing and Midwifery, has been under contention for years. In an effort to resolve the matter, Jinja Resident City Commissioner Richard Gulume ordered both parties to stay off the land in August 2024, pending a court ruling.
The Busoga regional Khadi, Dr. Hussein Muhammad Bowa, had earlier written to President Yoweri Museveni on August 28, 2024, asking for his intervention. In his letter, Bowa emphasized that the land has been in use by the Muslim community since 1932. He suggested that if the government could not return the land, they should provide the community with a new cemetery site.
Meanwhile, cemetery attendant Musa Ssekabira revealed that several bodies had been secretly buried in the graveyard by scaling the wall late in the evening. “We bury people after 5:00 pm, and sometimes as late as 7:00 pm to avoid detection by security,” Ssekabira claimed, although he provided no evidence of fresh graves.
After successfully hoisting the woman’s body over the fence, the group proceeded with the burial, continuing a practice that they say has become commonplace due to the closure of the cemetery’s gate.
| Details of Land Dispute | Key Dates | Involved Parties | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construction of wall fence | Ongoing (2024) | UPDF, JRRH, UMSC | UPDF contracted by JRRH to block cemetery access |
| Government halt on land access | August 29, 2024 | Jinja Resident City Commissioner Richard Gulume | Both parties instructed to stay off the disputed land |
| Request for government intervention | August 28, 2024 | Busoga regional Khadi Dr. Hussein Muhammad Bowa | Asked for President Museveni’s intervention to resolve the issue |
Local residents, including Hajji Musa Sseki, who lives near the cemetery, said a wooden ladder has been stationed at the wall for nearly a month, serving as a makeshift solution to access the cemetery. “Carrying bodies over the fence is not easy, but we have no alternative since the gate was closed,” said Ssekabira.
The cemetery is used not only by the Muslim community but also for unclaimed and accident victims from JRRH. The Muslim community continues to call for a swift solution, with Dr. Bowa stating, “We cannot continue to subject the dead to such indignity.”
