Former Miss Uganda Nakakande challenges Luswata’s apology to Juliana

What the report says

Former Miss Uganda Oliver Nakakande has publicly pushed back against Mary Luswata’s apology to singer Juliana Kanyomozi over remarks Luswata made years ago about the death of Kanyomozi’s son, Keron Kabugo. According to Sqoop Uganda, Luswata revisited the issue in an interview with Prim Asiimwe, saying her comments after Keron’s death in 2014 were insensitive and that becoming a mother later helped her better understand Kanyomozi’s grief.

Nakakande said that explanation missed the point. She argued that needing to have children before recognising another parent’s pain suggested a lack of empathy, and she questioned why the apology came nearly a decade later. Her comments framed the delay as important because the original remarks had remained hurtful over time rather than becoming less serious.

The dispute also touches on wider concerns within Uganda’s entertainment industry, where public remarks about private tragedies can have broader fallout. Nakakande suggested that the issue affected more than Kanyomozi alone and that a one-on-one apology did not fully address the wider damage. She also described Kanyomozi as a highly respected figure and said empathy should not depend on personally experiencing the same loss. The exchange highlights ongoing scrutiny of celebrity accountability and the limits of apologies made long after the original controversy.