Eeeh! I thought I had seen it all after the death of my late papa, when I began to face the fire of greed for the property of a deceased by ‘the grieving”. Apparently, I have seen nothing. I just watched an episode of “Judge Judy” in which two grown men sued their seemingly younger brother claiming their share of the late mother’s insurance policy.

At first, I was on the side of the plaintiffs until the facts unfolded. Turns out, during their mother’s long illness, she had Alzheimer, the plaintiffs were not her primary caregivers, but it was the defendant who was. The defendant took care of his mum until her death. At the time of her death, the plaintiffs showed up demanding to see the late mum’s life insurance policies and the details of her remaining wealth here on earth,

The defendant, albeit grieving, went about the traumatic ordeal of ensuring his mother’s funeral and burial. He used the mother’s life insurance policy to ensure that all the necessary costs were covered. And when the funeral and burial were done, it is only the balance that was shared three-ways among the brothers. Point here being the deceased paid for her own funeral. What a shame. Sadly, I can relate.

The Plaintiffs

The plaintiffs did not believe the defendant. Their greed made them to even have the defendant arrested on false accusations that he was a danger and that he needed help to fight a drug addiction. The defendant was detained and he missed the wake and funeral of his mother. His emotions of what this did to him are still raw and came through in court. Goodness me, there is evil on this earth! Sadly, I can relate.

Anyway, the defendant has had the last laugh in Judge Judy’s court. I enjoyed the part where Judge Judy humiliated the plaintiffs asking them how much they each paid for their mother’s funeral and burial. They paid absolutely nothing; and also, presumably, nothing for her healthcare and upkeep while she was still alive. The defendant used their late mum’s money to care for her and to bury her. And the plaintiffs had the audacity to sue him?

The defendant

Judge Judy dismissed the plaintiffs’ case. I cheered ulululululululu! And then she accepted to hear the defendant’s counter suit. Thereafter, she proceeded to penalize the greedy plaintiffs nicely. She ruled in favour of the defendant and awarded him his claim of US$ 2,500. I cheered ululululululu!

Now, for us here in Uganda, we can only dream of being lucky enough to have our cases handled and heard by judicial officers with high moral standing. It would appear those of the moral standing of Judge Judy’s caliber are so few, if at all, here in our nation. But I must keep my hopes high that I too will sometime be able to ululate for me in victory.