SAD! Abducted Bobi Wine Supporter’s Wife Dies After Five Painful Years of Looking for Missing Husband in Vain

For over five years, Sarah Nantumbwe lived with uncertainty. While many families mark anniversaries, birthdays and milestones together, hers was defined by an endless search for answers about her husband, John Ddamulira, a National Unity Platform (NUP) and Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu aka Bobi Wine supporter who disappeared in 2020 and has not been seen publicly since.

That search has now come to a heartbreaking end.

On Saturday, 13 June 2026, morning, NUP Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya announced the death of Nantumbwe, describing her passing as a painful reminder of the anguish endured by families of missing persons.

“We have this morning received the terrible news of the passing of Mrs. Nantumbwe Sarah Ddamulira, the wife to John Ddamulira, the National Unity Platform supporter who was abducted from his shop at Kisekka market in 2020 and is missing to-date,” Rubongoya said.

He added: “Like other family members of those disappeared, Sarah has spent the last five years moving everywhere looking for her husband. It is most painful that she has passed on without finding any answers. Kitalo nnyo.”

The statement quickly sparked an outpouring of sympathy from opposition supporters and human rights activists, many of whom have followed the Ddamulira case since it first emerged during the heated political atmosphere surrounding the 2021 general elections.

The Disappearance That Never Got Answers

John Ddamulira, a spare parts dealer at Kisekka Market and a known NUP supporter, was arrested in November 2020 during security operations that followed nationwide protests triggered by the arrest of NUP leader Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine.

At the time, Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Patrick Onyango publicly confirmed that Ddamulira had been arrested.

“It is true, he is one of the people we arrested, but I cannot tell you where he and others are detained now,” Onyango was quoted as saying in media reports.

That acknowledgment would later become a key point in the efforts by family members and opposition leaders to establish Ddamulira’s whereabouts.

However, despite years of inquiries and public appeals, no official account of what happened to him after his arrest has been made public.

His case has since become one of the most cited examples in discussions about missing opposition supporters in Uganda.

A Family’s Long Wait

For Nantumbwe, the years that followed were marked by uncertainty and hope.

Like many relatives of missing persons, she continued searching for information about her husband while appealing to authorities and anyone who might help shed light on his disappearance.

She spent years moving from place to place in pursuit of answers, hoping to discover whether her husband was alive and where he might be.

Those answers never came.

Her death now leaves behind a family still grappling with the same questions that have remained unresolved since 2020.

The tragedy has also renewed attention on the emotional and psychological burden carried by families whose loved ones disappear without explanation.

Unlike families who receive confirmation of a relative’s death, relatives of missing persons often find themselves trapped between hope and grief, unable to move on while still searching for answers.

A Symbol of a Wider Debate

Over the years, Ddamulira’s name has repeatedly surfaced in debates about missing opposition supporters and alleged enforced disappearances.

Opposition leaders have frequently cited his case when calling for accountability and demanding answers about individuals who disappeared during and after the politically charged period leading to the 2021 elections.

Government officials, meanwhile, have consistently maintained that investigations into various missing persons cases have been undertaken, although many families continue to say they have not received satisfactory answers regarding their loved ones.

As a result, Ddamulira’s disappearance remains one of the unresolved cases that continues to attract public interest years later.

A Search Cut Short

The death of Sarah Nantumbwe has added a deeply personal dimension to an already painful story.

For five years, she searched for her husband while holding onto the hope that one day she would learn what became of him.

That day never arrived.

Now, as family members, friends and supporters mourn her passing, the questions surrounding John Ddamulira’s disappearance remain unanswered.

For those who knew Sarah, her death represents more than the loss of a wife and mother. It is also the story of a woman who spent years searching for the truth and passed away without finding the closure she sought.

And for the Ddamulira family, the wait for answers continues.

Weeks ago, wife of detained NUP deputy spokesperson Alex Waiswa Mufumbiro died, and her husband was denied a chance to attend her burial.

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