Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Francis Manana, the father of Elisha Nabugyere, a toddler who was eaten by a leopard in Queen Elizabeth National Park has finally spoken out about the tragedy that befell the family.
Afande Manana, an instructor at the Police Senior Command and Staff College at Bwebajja, said the mother of the child, Doreen Ayera who is a ranger at Queen Elizabeth National Game Park, had just left for the evening staff briefing leaving the boy with his nanny outside the unfenced staff quarters of a safari lodge in the park. The boy then sneaked from her and moved a few meters to the river bank where leopard grabbed him.
“The maid was not aware when the child sneaked. She heard the kid’s shrill cry but it was too late as she just saw the leopard’s tail disappearing into the bush. The leopard had vanished with it in the bush and a search was mounted until we got the skull the next day,” SSP Manana said.
SSP Manana Francis and Wife at the burial of their son
The family, he added, will never recover from the incident.
Only bones and the boy’s skull were retrieved after a day’s search.
Doreen Ayera laying a wreath on her son’s casket
“We buried yesterday, but I am crestfallen because of the way my son died. It is a dreadful incident I will never forget,” SSP Manana said of his now-deceased child, who was born on November 30, 2015. The child was buried yesterday in Sironko district.
Former Budiope MP Mubito John Bosco addressing Mouuners
Asked whether the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) had issued an apology or compensated the family, Mr Manana said the Authority only helped with burial expenses and are yet to give a report to the family on how the incident unfolded.
“I haven’t received any communication regarding the incident from UWA but what I know is that they took part in burial arrangements,” Mr. Manana said.
Bereaved mourners at Elisha Nabugyere’s burial
