A 23-year-old Rwandan student at Makerere Business School (MUBS) was found dead at the Kampala-based academic institution on Monday. Phiona Uwase, a Bachelor of Business Computing student in third year, was discovered dead by fellow students as they prepared to go for morning lectures. But Ugandan media reported yesterday that Uwase was found dead at 4am on Saturday. Eyewitnesses said Uwase had strangle-marks on her neck with blood oozing out of her ears and nose. Her arms and legs were tied, and her body had been thrown in the corridors of Akamwesi Hostel, her residence. The Dean of Students, Evas Nyakoja, could not be reached for comment as she was reportedly out of office. Other university officials had not established the cause of the death. “We really do not know as yet. But the students told us they found her dead in the early hours of the morning. Everything is now in the hands of police,” Martha Abeja Ekure, the University Public Relations Officer, said. She added: “The whole university is currently mourning. It is such a great loss. She was a good student who would regularly come and consult on her academics.” A police spokesman couldn’t be reached for comment as he wasn’t picking up calls. But Abeja told The New Times yesterday that police were still engaged in investigations at both the hostel, which is privately owned, and at the university. The New Times also established from one of the students who preferred anonymity that it was possible her suspected murderers could have trailed her from outside the campus. Sources with the Uganda-Banyarwanda Association on the other hand alleged that Uwase could have been murdered in a robbery act. “We hear she had a very good phone, a laptop and some dollars on her. It is possible that they attempted to rob her,” a source said. Ends
