Police in Kiboga District, central Uganda, have detained a 42-year-old traditional healer following the discovery of an 11-year-old pupil who was found dead after leaving her home to sell boiled maize at night.
The body parts of Oliver Namanda, a pupil at Fairway Nursery School and a resident of Buzibwera cell, were discovered by a boy collecting grass for animals on land owned by Sekandi in Kirurumba cell.
On June 10, 2024, at about 10 pm, Namanda left home for Kiboga town to sell boiled maize, wearing a yellow T-shirt and black skirt. She did not return home, prompting her family to report her disappearance to the police on June 11. A search was initiated, and on June 12, 2024, around 11:30 am, her body parts were found by a young boy on Sekandi’s land. The incident was reported by the local council, and the police, led by the DPC Kiboga, responded to the crime scene.
Namanda’s body was found with several internal organs missing, including the lungs and heart. Her abdomen was separated from her legs, which were left at the crime scene. The body parts were taken to Kiboga Hospital mortuary for a postmortem. Items recovered from the scene included a knicker and a black skirt believed to belong to the deceased.
A police canine led detectives to a shrine in Kirurumba cell owned by Madinah Nakyeyune, who was subsequently arrested and is currently detained at Kiboga police station as investigations continue.
Efforts are ongoing to recover the missing body parts and to apprehend additional suspects. The police have urged parents to be vigilant about their children’s safety both inside and outside the home.
This incident follows a similar case two months prior, when two young siblings were beheaded in a suspected ritual sacrifice in the same district. Five-year-old Easter Nakasumba and her two-year-old sister Sylvia Nantongo went missing on April 3, 2024, after being sent home for lunch from their parents’ farm. Their mutilated bodies were later found near a brick-laying site.