Bukenya paid me Shs10m for singing about his mother - Iryn Namubiru

Namubiru, who is a longtime friend of the former vice president, said she initially didn't bargain for payment, so she received the money as a thank-you.

That she only asked for money to pay Paddy Man who produced the song, Nince Henry -- who wrote it -- and the crew that filmed the video of the song.

Speaking about how the song came about, in 2022, Bukenya said:

"Iryn loved my mother a lot. She even used to visit her a lot six months before her death... she sang the song because she saw me supporting my mother who was in a wheelchair and couldn't walk. I was helping her exercise to regain some energy... and she told me, you love your mom. And I told her there is nothing I love more than my mother. And that's how the song came about.

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"I love it a lot... I have taken long without seeing her, but I know she is there and I pray she stays safe."

The song is titled Nabulo, the last name of Bukenya's mother, Francisca Nabulo, who died in 2012 at the age of 87.

Who is Iryn Namubiru?

Born and raised in Mityana on December 13, 1981, Iryn Namubiru went to different schools in primary, and for secondary school -- she went to Mityana S.S. Namukozi, Bugema Adventist SS., Mengo S.S. (for one month ) and Namasagali College.

Namubiru, who nurtured her singing skills from school and church choirs, would in S.4 vacation meet Ragga Dee who was a neighbour in Makindye and he introduced her to professional music.

He introduced her to a studio where she met professional artistes like Menton Summer, Messe, Emperor Orlando and Jenkins Mukasa.

Ragga Dee would pick her up from home and they would go to perform at events.

A year into S.6 vacation, she met Frank Morel, who was deputy director of Alliance Francaise, with whom they now share two sons.

Namubiru didn't immediately join tertiary education after S.6 because of financial challenges, and she spent part of this period singing and that's how she met Morel. Frank Morel, who worked with the French Embassy in Kampala, also owned a band and she started singing in it.

Morel would become the manager of Namubiru and Juliana Kanyomozi when they teamed up to form I-Jay in which they released an album of six songs titled Wait.

It was recorded from Baava Studios, owned by Hope Mukasa, by a producer named Daudi Kitasimbwa. Namubiru had been singing with Kanyomozi at Sabrina's Pub and she suggested that they do an album together since she was leaving for France.

Iryn Namubiru left Uganda with Frank Morel after completing a diploma at Airways Tourism & Hotel Institute in Nsambya. In France, she pursued French studies at Stendhal University.