Patricia Nabukenya, a 29-year-old Ugandan and graduate of Makerere University, has died under deeply troubling circumstances in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), sparking outrage and grief across the country.
Nabukenya, who earned a Bachelor of Arts in Ethics and Human Rights in 2020, had been working as a domestic worker in Ras Al Khaimah, a city along the UAE coast. Her death, officially reported today, comes after a harrowing period of mistreatment and conflicting reports about her health crisis in the days leading up to her passing.
Social media was shaken by the late-night plea of Dr. Jim Spire Ssentongo, who posted:
“As we go to bed tonight, this young Ugandan lady (Patricia Nabukenya) is laying on a hospital bed in a foreign country, without any family or country people to access and fight for her, with strangers waiting to harvest her kidneys! She’s not yet dead. CAN’T ANYONE INTERVENE?”
Nabukenya had been admitted to Sheikh Khalifa Specialty Hospital in Ras Al Khaimah and placed in the Intensive Care Unit. What followed was a wave of panic, disbelief, and unanswered questions.
Friends and family describe a disturbing decline in Nabukenya’s well-being over the past year. After two difficult years of domestic work in Saudi Arabia, she relocated to Dubai in May 2024 in search of better opportunities. Instead, she found herself in an even more exploitative environment.
According to her close contacts, Nabukenya endured grueling work hours—starting at 4:00AM and ending at 7:00PM—with only brief moments for meals. Her phone was confiscated by her employers, and she was only allowed to access it a couple of times a week. Nutrition was scarce: she was reportedly given 10 kilograms of rice per month to survive on, with no allowance for additional food.
“She once said her fingers and toes felt paralyzed from overworking,” a friend revealed. “She was exhausted, and she wanted to come back home. But she couldn’t afford the 4.5 to 5 million Ugandan shillings her contract demanded if she were to leave.”
The death of her father last year further compounded her suffering—Nabukenya was denied the chance to return home and bury him.
On Wednesday, 28 May 2025, Nabukenya’s family was informed that she had been admitted to the ICU. But the explanations surrounding her sudden collapse are conflicting. Her sponsor claimed she complained of breathing difficulties, then choked while drinking water before collapsing. Others claim she slipped in the bathroom. An official from the recruitment company added yet another version, stating she suffered a heart attack due to a brain clot.
Her family remained locked out—unable to travel or communicate directly with hospital officials—relying on second-hand updates from the very agents and employers implicated in her distress.
In a distressing twist, the hospital reportedly contacted Nabukenya’s mother requesting permission to harvest and sell her organs to cover the costs of repatriating her body. The callous proposal sparked fury and questions about the treatment of African migrant workers abroad and the ethical boundaries of foreign medical practices.
Nabukenya’s death has reignited debate about Uganda’s labor export system, the lack of protection for its citizens abroad, and the silence of official institutions in the face of abuse.
Human rights advocates are now demanding a formal investigation into her death and renewed oversight of the recruitment agencies sending vulnerable Ugandans to the Middle East under exploitative contracts.
As Uganda mourns the loss of yet another bright young life cut short in foreign service, the public outcry is clear: Nabukenya deserved better—better protection, better working conditions, and a better response from her government.
Her story is a painful reminder of the hidden toll of labor migration and a clarion call to reform the systems that allowed her to suffer in silence.
Rest in power, Patricia Nabukenya.
