Waiting for the Missing: Ugandan Women Refuse to Give Up the Search for Their Loved Ones

By New Vision Writer

Every morning, before the streets of Kampala come alive, Leon Tinah Nakisibika still finds herself thinking about the day her husband walked out of their home and never returned.

More than four years later, hope has become a daily choice.

"I still believe the truth will one day come out," she says. "I cannot stop asking where my husband is."

Nakisibika, 26, says her husband, Ashraf Lubega, a tailor who worked in Kampala's Kiyembe business district, disappeared after being arrested in 2021 alongside several colleagues.

According to Nakisibika, security personnel accused the group of making red clothing associated with supporters of the opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) the leading opposition party in Uganda lend by Robert Kyagulanyti Sentamu aka Bobi Wine. While other tailors were eventually released on police bond, she says Lubega never returned home, his whereabouts remain unknown.

A Family's Search 

After Lubega's disappearance, Nakisibika and her relatives began searching for him.

They visited police stations, prisons and detention facilities, hoping someone would tell them where he had been taken.

Instead, they say they found silence. As weeks turned into months, Nakisibika met other families facing similar situations.

One of them was Sarah Nansubuga, whose brother, Joseph Ssemanda, also disappeared after reportedly being taken away by armed men in Kampala following the 2020 general elections.

"My mother still prepares meals expecting him to return," Nansubuga says. "Every knock on the door gives us hope, but it is never him."

For both women, the uncertainty has become the hardest part.

Without official confirmation of what happened to their loved ones, they say they continue living between hope and grief.

Demanding Answers

The women eventually joined others calling for information about missing relatives.

They participated in peaceful demonstrations and public campaigns, urging authorities to account for those they believe disappeared after arrests.

Nakisibika says her activism came at a personal cost.

She alleges that while returning home one evening, she was abducted by armed men in an unmarked vehicle, blindfolded and taken to an unknown location where she was held for several days.

During her detention, she says she was questioned about her involvement in the campaign for missing persons.

She further alleges that one of her captors told her that her husband had died after torture. We cannot independently verify that claim, and Ugandan authorities have consistently denied involvement in enforced disappearances.

Legal Troubles and Exile

Following her release, Nakisibika was charged before the General Court Martial with unlawful possession of military stores.

She maintains the charges were fabricated because of her activism.

After obtaining bail due to health concerns, she left Uganda, saying she feared for her safety.

She now lives in hiding outside the country but says she remains committed to seeking justice.

"I may be far away," she says, "but I will never stop asking what happened to my husband."

Calls for Accountability

Human rights organisations have documented allegations of enforced disappearances, unlawful detention and politically motivated arrests in Uganda over recent years.

The Ugandan government has repeatedly rejected allegations that state agencies are involved in illegal abductions, maintaining that security operations are conducted within the law.

For families like Nakisibika's and Nansubuga's, however, official denials have not eased the pain of uncertainty.

Years after their loved ones disappeared, they say they are still waiting for answers.

Until then, every unanswered phone call, every unfamiliar face and every passing day serves as another reminder that the search is not over.