A disagreement over the paternity of a two-year-old boy has disrupted his burial arrangements in Kitwekyanjovu Village, Kayazanga Sub-county, Lwengo District, after his mother’s in-laws initially declined to allow him to be buried at their family home.
The dispute involved a woman identified only as Mackline, who is married to Joseph Ssewankambo and lives in the village.
Residents said the child died on Tuesday evening, after which relatives began making burial arrangements. However, disagreements arose when questions were raised about whether Ssewankambo was the boy’s biological father.
Mackline reportedly took the child’s body from her matrimonial home and went to another family she believed was responsible for the burial. She was allegedly rejected there and later returned to her husband’s home, asking that the boy be buried on the family property.
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However, her husband’s relatives reportedly refused to accept the body, insisting that the child could not be buried on their land.
Residents said the disagreement intensified after Mackline allegedly declared that Ssewankambo was not the child’s father and therefore took the body elsewhere.
Some family members reportedly questioned why she had returned with the body after previously disputing the child’s connection to their family.
The dispute is said to have been preceded by longstanding disagreements between Mackline and her husband’s relatives.
Residents alleged that the woman had repeatedly clashed with members of her in-laws’ family and had previously accused her mother-in-law of contributing to the child’s death.
Neighbour Ronald Kalema said tensions had been building before the boy died. He further alleged that Mackline accused her mother-in-law of giving the child an excessive dose of medication.
“She said that her mother-in-law killed the child while giving him an overdose. The child got sick about two days back, and instead of taking him to hospital, they bought medicine and started giving it to him,” Kalema said.
The allegations have not been independently verified.
The child’s grandmother, Regina Naluyima, said she learnt about the death through a telephone call from her son and immediately went to the family home.
She expressed disappointment over what happened when she arrived, claiming that Mackline insulted her and accused her of being responsible for the child’s death.
Naluyima said she was in her bedroom when the confrontation began, adding that she had only seen the child after he had already died.
Following the heated exchanges, Mackline reportedly broke down and asked the family to forgive her. Her father-in-law eventually agreed to allow the child to be buried at the family home.
However, relatives reportedly directed that the grave be dug near the boundary of the kibanja rather than in the family’s main burial grounds.
Mackline was later seen carrying her son’s body to the designated location, where residents assisted with the burial.
The incident left residents shocked, with some questioning how disagreements within a family could escalate during a period when relatives were expected to come together to mourn a child.
Village chairperson Achleo Ntambazi condemned the incident, attributing such conflicts to domestic disagreements and strained relationships between couples and their extended families.
He also expressed concern about the tensions that can arise in families where questions over children’s paternity remain unresolved.
Mackline was reportedly still distressed after the burial over the disagreement surrounding her son’s final resting place.
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