Monica Nabukenya Kibalama, the wife of missing National Unity Platform (NUP) supporter Johnbosco Kibalama, has died.
Kibalama has been missing since June 3, 2019.
According to NUP leaders, Mrs. Kibalama was reportedly found dead in her bathroom.
The cause of death has not yet been officially confirmed.
NUP Presidential Candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, popularly known as Bobi Wine, expressed grief on X (formerly Twitter):
“We’ve just received with shock, the news of the sudden passing of Mrs. Monica Nabukenya Kibalama, wife to our missing brother, Johnbosco Kibalama,” he wrote.
Bobi expressed grief that the deceased never got the chance to obtain the justice she longed for, leaving her children without a mother while their father’s whereabouts remain unknown.
“Monica and her young children have spent the past six years looking for the head of their family, who was abducted on 3rd June, 2019. It’s very painful that these children are now without mother, and their father’s whereabouts remain unknown. Very painful that she has gone without getting the justice she so much fought for.”
David Lewis Rubongoya, the party’s secretary general, also mourned her death on X, expressing sorrow that she passed away before finding the justice she sought.
“Very saddened by the sudden passing of Mrs. Nabukeera Monica Kibalama. Since then, Monica has moved everywhere looking for justice for her husband. It is most unfortunate that she has passed on before finding it. Very sad day. What a pity for those little children.”
He said Mrs Kibalama was found dead in the bathroom.
Johnbosco Kibalama disappeared in Kanyanya. Opposition leaders describe it as an enforced disappearance linked to political persecution.
Before he went missing, he had expressed interest in the Busiro North parliamentary seat, held for 20 years by former Vice President Gilbert Bukenya.
He had reportedly received threatening calls after the violent Arua by-election in August 2018, where he supported Kassiano Ezati Wadri.
On June 3, 2019, Kibalama was allegedly kidnapped in Mpererwe along Gayaza Road. His Toyota Prado TX, phones, and identity cards were left abandoned.
Since then, his family, led by Mrs. Kibalama, has demanded answers about his whereabouts.
Security agencies maintain that he is not in government custody but alive and outside the country.
Mrs. Kibalama remained active in seeking justice, joining other families of missing persons in demanding government action. Her advocacy was visible through public demonstrations and media coverage over six years.
