MPIGI, Uganda — Security forces in Mpigi district have arrested a 39-year-old businessman and traditional healer after they raided his premises and unearthed decomposing human remains in what investigators suspect is a site linked to serial ritual killings.
The suspect, Ivan Muwanga, known in Lunyerere village for operating both a liquor business and a network of shrines, was taken into custody Sunday. His arrest and the subsequent horrific discovery were triggered by an alleged attempted abduction of a 12-year-old girl.
According to police, the girl, whose name is being withheld, escaped the abduction attempt and immediately alerted her mother, Proscovia Birabwa, who reported Muwanga to authorities.
Officers sealed off Muwanga’s premises and returned with forensic teams the following day. Police sources described the site as complex, comprising 10 huts and a number of shallow, unmarked graves. Inside one of the shrines, officers found buried bodies.
“Some of the remains, believed to be those of children, were so badly mutilated and decomposed that identification was immediately impossible,” a detective stated.
As security personnel continued exhuming bodies Monday evening, an enraged crowd of residents tried to lynch the suspect and torch his home. Police fired warning shots to disperse the mob. Katonga region police spokesperson Lydia Tumushabe confirmed the case is being investigated as suspected murder and human sacrifice.
Mysterious Disappearances
Residents told reporters that Muwanga has long been suspected in the mysterious disappearance of children in the area, though he had never been directly linked to the cases before the discovery.
Abdul Ssenoga, the area chairperson, noted that at least six reports of missing children have been filed with the police over the last three years.
A red flag was first raised Dec. 4, when the headless body of 12-year-old Betty Nabuyungo was recovered. She went missing after picking up her third-term school report.
“The following day [Dec. 5], after search efforts by residents, her headless body was discovered dumped in Kalungi swamp,” Ssenoga said. The victim’s hands, legs and private parts were also missing.
Richard Miiro, the village defense secretary, said the girl who recently escaped abduction was a close friend of Nabuyungo. “She may have seen something, which is why he tried to abduct her,” he said.
National Pattern of Crime
The Mpigi case is the latest in a series of disturbing incidents across the country pointing to the persistence of ritual killings and the illegal trade in human body parts.
Peter Sewakiryanga of Kyampisi Childcare Ministries warned that these crimes often involve more than just superstition. He said some perpetrators are engaged in forced organ harvesting, and stressed that traditional healers “continue to operate in secrecy unless the Police intervenes.”
The Police Crime Report indicates that Uganda registered more than 9,400 child-related offenses last year. Activists estimate that nearly 3,000 children go missing annually, according to a recent report by the African Network for the Prevention and Protection against child abuse and neglect.
