A family in Masindi District, Uganda, is grappling with an extraordinary twist of fate. They buried their son on Sunday. They mourned him. They began funeral rites. Then he walked back home alive.
Godwin Baguma, a resident of Kijura Central Cell in Central Division, had been missing for several weeks. He is said to have a mental health condition. His family searched. No one knew where he was.
Then police recovered a decomposing body from a sugarcane plantation in Kisanja Cell. The remains were taken to Masindi Hospital mortuary. Baguma’s father, Yakobo Kamuturaki, was too distraught to view the body himself. He sent his sons. They returned with devastating news. The body was their brother.
“We were told the body was in a bad state. My sons went and identified it as their brother. We believed them and accepted that he was dead,” the father said.
On Sunday, April 19, Baguma was laid to rest. Mourners gathered from across the surrounding areas. Final funeral rites were scheduled for Monday, April 20. But before those rites could be completed, whispers began to spread.
Reports emerged that Baguma had been spotted alive in a neighbouring village. “At first, we dismissed it as rumours. We had already buried the body. But we decided to go and confirm,” said his sister, Jane Birungi.
Family members rushed to the location. They found Baguma standing there. Alive. He had reportedly spent the night at a friend’s home. “When we saw him, we were shocked. We could not believe it was him standing there alive,” Birungi said.
The family rushed him back home. The funeral proceedings came to an abrupt and bewildering halt. The body they had buried was exhumed. It now appears the decomposing remains belong to an unidentified person — not Godwin Baguma.
“We had already mourned and even buried the body. Then suddenly, the person we thought was dead returns alive. This is something we have never witnessed before,” said neighbour Janet Asiimwe.
Solomon Mugisa, the Albertine North Regional Community Liaison Officer and acting police spokesperson, confirmed the incident. He said the body was recovered on Friday and misidentified by the family. After Baguma’s return, the family withdrew their identification. The remains were exhumed and returned to Masindi Hospital mortuary.
Mugisa urged the public to exercise extreme caution when identifying bodies, especially those in advanced stages of decomposition. “In such situations, identification must be done carefully, and families should work closely with medical personnel to avoid such mistakes,” he advised.
The incident comes barely a week after a similar case in Vihiga, Kenya, where a family buried the wrong body. They intended to bury Collins Onzere but instead buried Polycarp Ondieki from Kisii. That grave was also exhumed.
Police have launched an investigation to determine the true identity of the body buried by Baguma’s family. Meanwhile, the Baguma family is left to process an emotional whiplash: grief, confusion, relief, and now, unanswered questions.
