Claims surrounding the death of Ugandan socialite Ivan Ssemwanga have resurfaced on social media, with journalist Simon Kaggwa Njala questioning whether the businessman, who was reported to have died in South Africa in 2017, actually passed away.
Ssemwanga, a prominent member of the so-called Rich Gang group, was reported to have died on May 25, 2017, aged 39, after suffering a stroke in South Africa.
However, renewed claims about the circumstances surrounding his death and burial have triggered fresh debate, particularly over the sealed coffin in which his body was reportedly transported to Uganda.
On October 29, Njala posted on X claiming that Ssemwanga was still alive, without providing publicly verifiable evidence to support the assertion.
“Let’s put this matter to rest. I was deliberate in questioning the death of Ivan. Now, I’m here to confirm that he is alive. End of tweet,” Njala wrote.
The claims have also been amplified by social media accounts questioning why the coffin was not opened for public viewing during the burial arrangements.
The Human Rights Platform, in a post on October 30, claimed to have contacted a person who had worked with A-Plus Funeral Management in Mengo for 12 years and was reportedly among the team that handled Ssemwanga’s case.
According to the account, the funeral home staff were prevented from opening the coffin and none of them saw Ssemwanga’s body.
The platform said it had received photographs and videos of the sealed coffin and challenged Ssemwanga’s former partner, Zari Hassan, to clarify the circumstances surrounding his death.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Zari, however, has previously maintained that Ssemwanga died in South Africa and that the family was involved in the arrangements surrounding his death and burial.
She has also disputed suggestions that the family concealed his death, reportedly explaining that another post-mortem examination was conducted and that their children participated in traditional burial rites.
Other questions raised online concern reports that the body was transported to Uganda under the name Ali Ssenyomo, as well as claims that the Ugandan diplomatic mission in South Africa did not receive an autopsy report.
None of these allegations, however, establishes that Ssemwanga is alive.
Ssemwanga was a well-known businessman and socialite whose lavish lifestyle, business interests and relationship with Zari attracted considerable public attention. His death in 2017 was widely reported, and he was subsequently buried in Uganda.
The renewed debate has prompted calls from some social media users for DNA testing and the release of additional documentation to settle the questions surrounding his death.
However, no publicly presented forensic evidence or independently verified medical records have emerged to substantiate the claim that Ssemwanga survived his reported death.
