A second chance at life: Shillah Ainembabazi’s journey from teenage mother to UNSA president

For the most of her young life, Shillah Ainembabazi was not unlike many disadvantaged children, growing up in rural western Uganda.

Half-orphaned from when she was only two, she was raised in hardship by her mother, Enid Nankunda, a cattle keeper whose only source of income was from selling dairy products.

Yet, as a fourth-born of six, she remembers herself as being the shining star of  her family; one that “brought the vibe in the home.”

Born in Nyakigando village in Sanga, Kiruhura district, Shillah went to live with her relatives in Kyankwanzi district at a young age.

She and other learners in the village, she recalls, woke up every morning at 4:00am and converged under a big tree to walk in a group to St Jude Primary school, which was three hours away.

The first time she wore shoes in Primary seven, she could not walk as fast as her friends. She removed them and hid them in a bush, only to find them stolen in the evening.

For secondary school she went to Kitata SS, day-schooling from her cousin sister’s who had a shop in Hoima town

“But because I was brilliant, the school gave me a scholarship and employed me as a librarian. I contested for Assistant Headgirl in Senior 3 and lost; but the school appointed me the Entertainment Prefect.”

After Senior 4, she returned to Kiruhura and went to Lake Mbuuro SS for A Level which was a bit affordable. 

Here, she also contested for headgirl and this time she was unopposed.

Finishing A-Level, she had no hope of joining a university because her mother could not raise the tuition. As such, she sought employment in vacation, landing her first job as a supermarket attendant in Kigali, Rwanda.

Here was where Shillah’s dreams of becoming a television newscaster almost blew up in her face.

When her Ugandan boyfriend, a former schoolmate at Lake Mbuuro SS came to visit her in Rwanda, she ended up getting pregnant.

She returned to Uganda to pick her exam results and immediately fled home for Kampala. She joined a group of young friends, living in slums in Nansana Municipality to start a new life.

“I switched off my phone and cut off communication with my family. Life was hard.” she narrated in an interview on Shutama na Nyamwiza.

Eventually she called her mother and told her about her condition.

"My mother told me she already knew about my pregnancy. She invited me back to the village to give birth."

In the village, she says, chaos broke out between her family and her baby-daddy’s because they wanted her to marry him. 

“But I wasn’t ready and didn’t want to get married. I told my mom that I wanted to go back to school. My mom stood by me and refused to give me away.”

“After delivery, I left her with my 2-month old baby and went back to Nansana, where I got a job working in a restaurant. I rented a single room with an outdoor toilet. I remember we used to  line up as tenants in front of the toilet to take a shower in the morning.”

“I worked so hard with the hope of getting myself back into school. I worked until Covi19 hit. That was the time I had my second child. A son.”

Shillah landed another job at a forex bureau. She saved up money and enrolled for a certificate course in journalism at YMCA, studying during the weekends. 

Not giving up on her childhood dream, she decided to resign from her Forex bureau job to enrol at Victoria University. She also applied for a job at the newly founded Sky TV in Mbarara.

“I remember I called the TV proprietor and he sent me to the station to get trained and after 3 weeks I was on air. I was there for all the time working unpaid, until it was rebranded to Tayari TV West.”

In 2024 in her first year, Shillah turned her eyes to student leadership. She contested successfully for GRC at Victoria University and the Guild President appointed her as his deputy. 

“I made lots of friends in political circles and in no time I was encouraged to contest for the National Youth Council and was elected secretary for female affairs for Kiruhura district.”

Then she moved to contest in the Council at the national level but this was tougher; She was badmouthed with some people claiming that she was sent by Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa (proprietor of Tayari TV)  as a “project candidate”

She ultimately lost the election with a margin of 30 votes.

Emerging bruised from the election, she got advice from a lawyer to contest for UNSA President and one month later I was elected president of the student body. 

“As the head of the students’ leadership in the country, the position gave me a lot of exposure and influence,” she said.

She has since rubbed shoulders with powerful figures in the country including First Lady Janet Museveni, who personally attended her swearing in event.

Shillah says she owes her breakthrough to her mother, who never gave up on her.

“In many cases when young girls get pregnant they often get chased from home by their parents. Many get completely cut off by families,” she said.

“I feel like if my father was present, I would have avoided certain mistakes out of fear. Nowadays, a lot of girls end up in circumstances simply because their fathers were not around."

“Their mothers also get frustrated. It is important that parents get back in their children’s lives. More so, when a child makes a mistake, it is not the end of life. You can always restart no matter how old you are. I am an example.”