Rugambwa, 57, a resident of Kilambula village in Zirobwe sub-county was arrested together with his wife Winnie Rugambwa, after residents reported the couple to police that they had dug a grave to bury alive a 10-year-old girl.
Rugambwa on arrest, told police and journalists that he is the second born of Joseph Kibwetere, the mass murderer of Kanungu believed to have burnt alive over 700 people on March 17, 2000, after nailing up the doors and windows from the outside and setting the church alight.
Kibwetere was a leader of the Movement for Restoration of the Ten Commandments, a cult that believed the world would come to an end at the turn of the millennium. Hundreds of other bodies believed to be victims of the same cult were subsequently found in mass graves at different locations.
In 2000, Rugambwa was pictured holding a photograph of his ‘father’ Kibwetere and mother at their family house located at Kabumba village in Kanungu. The whereabouts of Kibwetere have remained unknown since the incident.
Sperito Kiroli the LC III chairman of Zirobwe sub county says that residents were concerned after seeing men digging a grave inside Rugambwa’s wall-fenced home and later heard a child crying.
Kiroli said concerned residents stealthily jumped into the fence immediately after the man left and saw the open grave and the child covered in a tarpaulin before they notified the police. Kiroli says that residents believe that Rugambwa had planned to kill the child and bury her at night.
Isah Ssemwogerere the Savannah Regional police spokesperson says that when police visited the home of Rugambwa, they found the open grave and the child who was sick and isolated in a special room.
Ssemwogerere explains that Rugambwa told police that he dug the grave to bury the sick child in case she died because efforts to treat her had not yielded any positive results.
Ssemwogerere says that the malnourished sick child was rescued and with support from FIDA, she was transferred to Luwero hospital for treatment. Ssemwogerere says that Rugambawa and his wife were also arrested and transferred to Luwero central police station.
“We have preferred charges of child neglect and torture against the parents. We are now waiting for state attorney to sanction the charges before we present them to court,” Ssemwogerere said.
On searching Rugambwa’s home, police found grazing tortoises and several cats among other things. URN
