Africa-Press – Uganda. Habib Bosco Magara, 42, a computer scientist, yesterday became the first identified Ugandan believed to have been killed in Ukraine since Russia invaded the second-largest European country on February 24, 2022.
Magara’s family learnt about his death on August 13, from his friend identified as Mr Drei Cupchinno who informed them that he lost his life in a bomb blast on August 1. The deceased, according to other family members, had been missing since July 29.
The deceased’s brother, Mr Hamza Edema Magara, however, told this publication yesterday that circumstances surrounding Magara’s death are not yet clear.
The late Magara, who had lived in northeast Ukraine since 2006, is survived by a son, 17-year-old Ashraf Magara, who studies and stays with the mother in Kawanda, Wakiso District.
Uganda’s deputy ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo Twaha Matata Magara, who is the deceased’s elder brother, told Daily Monitor last evening that the family was working tirelessly to repatriate the body and accord the late Magara a decent burial.
“My brother left in 2006, through their uncle, Dr Tobias, who is based in Berlin, Germany,” Ambassador Magara said.
Although the exact cause of Magara’s death remains a mystery, Mr Edema told Daily Monitor that his brother was reportedly beaten by an unknown xenophobic mob and his body thrown into the stream from where it was reportedly retrieved.
The family had images of Magara’s decomposing body lying in the grass. The body showed signs of a peeling skin characteristic of burns or decomposition.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs in-charge of International Cooperation Henry Oryem Okello yesterday confirmed Magara’s killing, adding that “he stayed in Kharkiv, a wrong place at a wrong time,”
Mr Oryem said no family member was yet to contact the ministry to report the matter, which has made it difficult for them to ascertain the identity of the deceased and the exact location.
“He is not among the Ugandans that reported to the embassy when they reached there, so we are still investigating to ascertain because sometimes foreigners use this chance to ask the government to help them,” the minister said.
Responding to the minister’s claims that his deceased brother was unknown to the embassy, Ambassador Magara said: “Of course, they are right because he didn’t go there as a domestic worker. He went a long time ago.”
Mr Edema revealed that his brother’s body was being kept in an undisclosed hospital in Ukraine and that “ plans to return his remains were underway but there are teething troubles in movements due to insecurity.”
On whether the government is participating in the repatriation process, the minister said: “They [family] are doing their things in hiding and as a government we cannot go on looking for people to help unless they reach us. [However] if he was registered with our embassy, it would be easy to trace [otherwise] for now the family has to come and we scrutinise the deceased’s credentials like passport, identity cards and others.”
With the exception of Magara’s case, Mr Oryem said the government had never received any case of any dead or suffering Ugandan in the conflict.
“When the war had just started, we used to get calls for repatriation but as time went on, they stopped and we are now one year away. If there are any Ugandans there…..it is because they want to be there,” he said.
But the issue of the Ugandans caught up in the Ukrainian war have been raised on different forums, including the floor of Parliament
Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Muwada Nkunyingi, in an interview yesterday, said Magara’s death should be explained by the government.
“We have been losing and continue to lose Ugandans and we think it is because of the recklessness of the government. We demand that the government explain the entire issue and give us assurance on the steps they are taking to protect the remaining nationals caught up in the crisis,” he said.
Mr Nkunyingi, who is also the Kyadondo East MP, noted that the embassy officials, while appearing before the Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee where he is a member on January 10, informed them that four Ugandans, who were among about 30 caught up in the crisis, were not known by the embassy.
“They told us that they only knew 25 Ugandans. I strongly raised our concerns on the fate of Ugandans in Ukraine to the Uganda Embassy team based in Moscow, Russia, which covers Ukraine,” he said. Mr Nkunyingi said it is irregular and diplomatically insensitive for the same ambassador to represent both Russia and Ukraine which are at war with each other.
About the deceased
Habib Bosco Magara is the second born of six children of the late Capt Kerir Magara, a UPDF officer.
He attended St Joseph College Ombachi for his O-Level from where he joined Bombo SS for his A-Level and later moved to Ukraine in 2006, soon after the death of his father.
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