Tragedy has taken a dramatic turn following the death of Namirembe Angel, a third-year Law student at Uganda Christian University (UCU), who passed away after a boda boda accident on Tuesday. What began as a moment of mourning has now spiraled into a bitter paternity dispute that has divided her family and caught the attention of the public.
According to family sources, tension erupted at Mulago Hospital Mortuary when Robert Mutebi, the man who raised Namirembe, arrived to pick up her body — only to be confronted by Hon. Betty Nambooze, who came with a funeral home vehicle claiming that she was acting on instructions from the deceased’s “real father,” a one Kiwanuka, said to be working abroad.
Mutebi, visibly heartbroken, told reporters he had been Namirembe’s father in every sense of the word until he was suddenly told otherwise after her death.
“I have raised and struggled with this girl and paid her fees up to university,” Mutebi said. “Why am I now being told, after her passing, that I am not the biological father?”
Witnesses say a heated argument broke out between Mutebi’s family and that of Agnes Nakandi, Namirembe’s mother, who has been married to Mutebi for 29 years.
The mother reportedly sided with those claiming that Kiwanuka, the alleged biological father, wanted the body taken to his ancestral home for burial. Eventually, Nambooze’s team took custody of the body and transported it from Mulago, despite Mutebi’s protests.
“I have accepted them to take away the body and bury wherever they say the real biological father comes from,” Mutebi said quietly. “I have now officially separated from the mother of my children.”
Originally, the family had planned to lay Namirembe to rest in Lwamata on Hoima Road, but the burial venue was abruptly changed to Mawokota, said to be her biological father’s home area.
This decision followed the circulation of old video clips showing Namirembe herself saying she hailed from Mawokota, seemingly confirming her maternal family’s claims.
The move has sparked emotional debate on social media, with many sympathizing with Mutebi and questioning the timing of the revelations.
Namirembe, known to friends as Angel, was a third-year Law student at Uganda Christian University, Mukono campus. Friends and classmates described her as bright, ambitious, and full of promise — a “leader beaming with ideas and energy,” as one colleague put it on X.
Her death has left the UCU community in mourning, with students holding prayer vigils and calling for calm as the family sorts out the dispute.
As the body is prepared for burial in Mawokota, questions remain over the paternity claims that surfaced only after Namirembe’s death. The family’s emotional split has turned what should have been a solemn farewell into a painful public confrontation.
For now, Robert Mutebi — the man who says he loved, raised, and educated Angel — is walking away heartbroken, saying he will let them bury her where they choose, but that his family is now broken forever.
