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Bank of Uganda warns public against burying corpses with money


The Bank of Uganda has waded into an ongoing debate on whether tycoon Ivan Ssemwanga’s body should be exhumed and monies buried in grave recovered.

In a series of tweets posted on its official Twitter account, the bank – which is the Central Bank of Uganda – now suggests the currency buried alongside the flashy businessman is “now likely to be defaced, soiled or damaged, and thereby no longer able to serve the purpose for which it was intended”.

The bank has also warned the public to refrain from any act, conduct or use of shilling notes and coins for purposes other than those the national currency is intended, adding that it was in the process of amending the Bank of Uganda Act and include a clause that will criminalize the misuse of currency.

This statement comes after citizens separately filed suits at a Kampala court on Friday, seeking orders to exhume Ssemwanga’s body and remove the cash that was buried in his grave.

The law suits were filed by two “concerned” citizens, namely Abey Mgugu and Robert Ssenfuka before the High Court in Kampala.

Ssemwanga, 40, a former husband to socialite Zari Hassan, recently passed on at a South African hospital.

It was during his burial however that drama unfolded.

Viral online videos showed members of Ssemwanga’s Rich Gang pouring champagne into his grave, whilst others shuffled several Uganda shillings notes into his grave amid shock from hundreds of mourners.