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Ugandans still waiting for probe
The Police put out warrants of arrest for six leaders of the cult, but up to now they have been elusive. Kataribaabo was reportedly sighted in Rwanda at a different cult camp and later in Nairobi. Both Mwerinde and Kibwetere were also rumoured to be hiding in Rwanda. But the Police spokesman, Gabriel Tibayungwa said the Police have not received any real leads regarding the whereabouts of the three cult leaders.
“We cannot be sure if they did not die in the fire or anywhere else, because most of the bodies were difficult to identify,” Tibayungwa said.
He said the arrest warrants still stand.
“We issued a red notice; an international arrest warrant secured through Interpol and all countries have it.”
During investigations in 2000, an Assistant Resident District Commissioner, Rev. Amooti Mutazindwa, was arrested for allegedly suppressing an intelligence report on the cult. But Tibayungwa said Mutazindwa was only linked to the group because he attended one of their functions as a guest of honour. Tibayungwa said Mutazindwa was not connected to what happened.
The government said it would set up a commission of inquiry, but the probe never took off, amidst claims that there were no funds allocated. The site remained guarded for more than a year and few years later, some villagers around the area said they still saw ghosts or heard the wails of victims in the night.
Today, the setting of the cult’s compound remains the same. Its school, dormitories and administrative buildings are a reminder of a terrible tragedy. Authorities in Kanungu hope it will be preserved as a memorial site.
Nobody can fully explain how the cult at Kanungu could have flourished without anyone acting in time to stop the massacre.
It is strange that Ugandan authorities had raided and disbanded two other doomsday cults just months before the tragedy, and yet members of the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments remained untouched.
Published on: Saturday, 15th March, 2008
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