Is announcing famous people dead a trend?

By Mike Ssegawa

Death is certainly not the worst thing befalls any human being, although many people fear the Grim Reaper before it stare them in the face.

So you find people spending millions of money to escape the end, which finally comes to everyone despite how tireless one might postponed it.

It is amazing that there are human beings around who wish others death as if themselves, they will never see it. This murder instinct in some people either drives them to kill others literally or figuratively.

Literally, these are the people who carry out executions or plan them against others they regard as their enemies or rivals. Many times it ends the actual demise for the victims, and legally the culprits can be traced, arrested, tried in courts of law and punished accordingly whereas others get away with it.

Anyway, their actions are regarded as criminal.

Then, there is this group which has become common of recent, this group wish the other people dead.

So on a wonderful day, they wake up and start circulating messages that so and so is dead.
The originator of the rumour intends to hurt the family and associates of the victim, and on their part appease his\her evil mind.

The practice has become worse with the coming of modern tools of communication such as the internet and telephone.

Adding, that is how you can wake up one morning someone announces dead Kitgum district MP Beatrice Anywar, the woman credited for defending Mabira Forest from going into the hands of sugarcane growers.

However some days back, it was Mukono Municipality MP Betty Nambooze announced dead. And when I reached out to her, she told me “abiika yabiikanga” a Luganda saying meaning the person who wrongfully announces another person’s death is actually a good omen as the victim lives to be seen alive and shame that person who announced him\her dead.

This similar thing has happen to many other prominent people like businessman Sudhir Ruparelia, opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye and even President Museveni. But why should anyone announce another person dead while knowing that he or she is still alive?

The answer is we have many murderers around us and it’s people with criminal minds but without courage to carry out their evil plans but wishing they could.

Honestly think and believe that the act of spreading such malicious messages about others needs to be checked and stopped immediately.

However, it has become a fashion that people whose health is not threatened in any way are announced by some idle people, I believe lawmakers or courts should address themselves to this anomaly.

However death itself is not bad but for anyone to spread fake rumours that another person is dead causes distress to that person’s loved ones and should be punishable in our statutes or Maybe to announce a person dead should also be termed as a homicide in its own right, and the originator should be sued for it