For most of her life, Ugandan singer Iryn Namubiru thought family was everything.
She held her loved ones in high regard, believing they were her greatest source of support.
Yet her perspective changed drastically after a painful experience that left her feeling utterly betrayed.
“As you grow up, there are people who you think are your everything; your heroes; and then they turn out to be the same people who will destroy you… who really kill you,” Namubiru said during the latest episode of Tusker Malt Conversessions.

The talented songstress opened up about the deep wounds caused by the people she once trusted the most.
For 11 years, Namubiru says she has chosen silence over engagement with her mother, a decision shaped by unimaginable betrayal and emotional pain.
The Japan Ordeal and Family Betrayal
In May 2013, Iryn Namubiru was arrested at Narita International Airport, Japan, after 2kg of drugs were found in her luggage. She was detained on suspicion of drug trafficking,
She was later cleared and released without charge after it was proven that she was set up.
The shock, however, came when she realised that the person who framed her was not a stranger but her own brother and manager, Thadeus Mubiru.
“When I got back to Uganda, I was able to confirm that it was him who set me up. I confronted him. I went with him to my mother, and confronted him in front of her.”
A Mother’s Indifference
The reaction she received from her mother Justin Nyanzi, was not what she had expected.
Despite presenting evidence that Thadeus Mubiru had orchestrated the scheme that nearly cost her life, her mother remained indifferent.
“My mother did not react at all; she was indifferent as I told her that this was the person who did all this to me,” Namubiru recounted painfully.
“I don’t know what I would have done standing in front of the person who set up my child to be arrested!”

She was deeply hurt that her mother did not stand by her during one of the most difficult moments of her life. The pain was compounded when she learned that her brother had allegedly wished she had died in prison in Japan.
“I have recordings of all this,” she said. “To think that I could have been killed! I was so lucky I got arrested in Japan. If I was in Taiwan or Indonesia or Thailand or China, whether I knew about it or not, I would have been sentenced to death.”
The Breaking Point
Namubiru recalled the heartbreaking moment when she finally decided to cut off communication with her mother.
After her return to Uganda, she was met with torment from her own family, especially her mother and siblings.
“A few days after I came back, she never spoke to me. One day I came around and found her in her room praying. I asked if I could speak to her about something.
“She stood up and banged the door in front of me, saying she never wanted to hear anything from me,” Namubiru revealed.
That moment sealed the fate of their relationship. For over a decade, she has kept her distance, unable to engage with the woman who once meant everything to her.

Living with the Pain
Namubiru acknowledged how difficult it has been to carry this pain in a society that discourages people from speaking out against their parents.
“They say that a parent is never wrong,” she lamented. “For 11 years, I have had to stomach this because we are not allowed to criticise our parents. But I cannot listen to her. I don’t know anyone who has disparaged me more than my own mother.”
She admitted that the experience has made her give up on many relationships.