Makerere university is known to be the greatest university in Uganda and most probably producing quality intelligent people. As they say, ‘not all that glitters is gold’, a MAK babe, Patience Nalubega (not real names) is doing the unthinkable by operating as a prostitute in Nankulabye, a Kampala suburb that borders the famous Makerere, Kikoni area.
Patience joined Makerere to pursue a bachelor in SWASA last year. Trouble started when her boyfriend, a one Joshua who studying at Makerere Business Institute (MBI) vanished after impregnating her. The boyfriend, according to Nalubega, blocked her on social media and changed his phone numbers.
She had nowhere to go and feared to go home to tell her single mother about her pregnancy. Being on loan scheme, her tuition was paid but upkeep was the problem as hard times were biting hard. Left with no option of a source of income to pay her hostel fees, Nalubega decided to shift to a small single room in Nakulabye where she is paying only Ushs. 100,000 per month without electricity and water.
“Life is hard without a roof over your head. In this single room, at least I can rest with my baby on a bed however much it is not comfortable for us. The house somehow leaks on rainy days but life goes on,” she says.
With no available funds for her upkeep and feeding her 6 months old baby, Patience says the only option she had was to get money from men in any way she could. She had some friends she knew from the street and were already in the business of sex for money.
“My friends introduced me to how things were done but the first time in the act, I felt very guilty sleeping with a man older than my father and a total stranger. It was hard to believe it’s me doing this but somehow I was happy I got some little money,” Nalubega narrates.
When asked about her parents- if they condon the act, this student says that it’s the biggest secret she has hidden from her mother who is just a peasant and a single mum taking care of two of her sisters after their father passed on in a bus accident during her form six vacation in 2015.
She says prostitution has helped her foot her feeding and rent bills since on some days she even gets like Ugshs. 100,000. Although Nalubega declined to mention the number of men she sleeps with in a day, she says she’s aware of the risk involved in the act and protection is always a must even though some men become violent and refuse to pay her after they’ve got what they wanted.
Despite the fact that this student is roughly 24 years old, she admits that some of her close friends condemn her for her actions and she hopes after graduation, she will leave prostitution and concentrate on raising her child to a good girl.
