Bunga tragedy: Mother tells police marital conflict drove attack on children

• Dorothy Namayo told police that persistent marital disputes pushed her towards killing her children and herself.

• Police are still establishing the sequence of the stabbing, attempted suicide and arson.

• The surviving children and Namayo remain under treatment at Mulago Hospital.

• Police recorded 208 domestic violence-related murders in 2025, up 13.7 per cent from 2024.

Police are investigating claims by Kenyan national Dorothy Namayo that prolonged conflict with her husband drove her to attack her children, attempt to take her own life and set property on fire at their home in Bunga, Kampala.

Namayo, 43, remains under treatment at Mulago Hospital. She told detectives that persistent disputes in her marriage had become unbearable and that she intended to kill all her children before ending her own life.

Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Rachel Kawala said detectives were still examining the account and trying to establish the order in which the incidents happened.

“That is so far what we have explaining why she did what she did in the three incidents; stabbing the children, attempted suicide and arson,” Kawala said. “We are yet to determine which happened first.”

Police said the surviving children are also receiving treatment at Mulago Hospital. Their father has not yet recorded a statement.

Accounts from the family’s housemaid and neighbours point to growing tension in the home before the attack.

They claim the disagreements intensified after Namayo’s husband, Malian national Ederisa Troe, took a second wife in Namasuba along Entebbe Road.

Housemaid Maria Saana, who had worked for the family for three years, said the couple had lived without major disputes during her first years at the home.

She said the situation changed in May 2026. Arguments became frequent and Troe spent fewer nights at the Bunga home.

Another dispute broke out on the day of the tragedy. The eldest child, who later died, contacted a family friend who intervened and calmed the situation.

Troe later left the house. Namayo also went out, saying she was going shopping.

Police suspect she used that trip to buy knives, new padlocks and fuel. Investigators believe some of the items were later used during the attack and to set a vehicle on fire.

The family has held back from giving a detailed public account as it mourns the children.

Abubakary Boubou Makena, the elder brother of the children’s father, said on Friday that the family would speak about the tragedy at a later stage.

Kawala urged families facing domestic disputes to seek help from Police Child and Family Protection offices. She said officers can offer guidance, investigate complaints, provide counselling or refer cases to court where necessary.

Police figures show domestic violence remains a major concern in Uganda. Authorities cite disputes over family property, failure to provide for households, alcohol and drug abuse, and infidelity among the leading triggers.

The 2025 Annual Crime Report recorded 208 murders linked to domestic violence, up from 183 in 2024. That represented a 13.7 per cent rise. Police also recorded 208 victims of aggravated domestic violence.