The concubine of a government official (Part III)

What the report says

The Observer’s “The concubine of a government official (Part III)” continues an intimate, first-person narrative centered on Lucy Nabunya, a woman introduced in conversation with the writer Yusuf Kajura. The piece is set in Uganda and moves between a coffee meeting and Lucy’s recollection of how she became involved with a wealthy man connected to government circles.

In the account, Lucy says she studied law at Makerere University and completed the Law Development Centre, but struggled to turn her training into stable income. She describes the difficulty young lawyers face, especially women, and says financial pressure shaped the choices she later made. The article then shifts to a story from a trip to Hoima about five years earlier, where a mistaken identity led a man to offer her money for sex, which she says she accepted because of debt and the prospect of quick earnings.

The man, whom she later realizes is a powerful figure, allegedly offers to take her back to Kampala, place her in an apartment and support her. The narrative suggests he is a government official or politically connected man, and Lucy becomes drawn in by his wealth and influence. The Observer presents this as a personal testimony rather than a conventional news report, using the conversation to explore themes of transactional relationships, gendered hardship, money and power in Ugandan society. In general terms, the piece reflects wider debates in East Africa about survival strategies, corruption-adjacent networks and the social cost of economic insecurity.