Vocalist Iryn Namubiru has revisited one of the darkest and most painful chapters of her life, sharing a deeply emotional reflection that sheds light on wounds many had long forgotten or never truly understood.
In a raw and heartbreaking post, Namubiru revealed how the trauma of her 2012 arrest in Japan and the devastating loss of her father just two weeks later continues to haunt her, twelve years on.
“It’s 03:03 a.m. and I haven’t shut my eyes for even a second. I feel like I need someone to tell me I’m not crazy for what I’m thinking,”she wrote, in what felt like a midnight plea for understanding and release.
For those who don’t remember: in 2012, Iryn Namubiru was arrested in Japan on suspicion of drug trafficking. The news exploded across headlines and social media in Uganda. She spent three grueling weeks in detention before eventually being cleared and released. While the legal nightmare ended, the emotional scars ran much deeper.
Just as she was beginning to recover from the ordeal, tragedy struck again.
“Only two weeks after my three-week detention in Japan, my father died. He wasn’t there to welcome me home like everyone else,”Namubiru recalled, her words heavy with sorrow.
She shared that her father had reportedly tried to reach her the day before he passed a missed connection that still pierces her heart.
Her pain was compounded by a profound sense of emotional isolation in the days that followed.
“I spent the day alone in my house even though others were living there. My mother, in particular, chose to walk away and only came back around 4:00 p.m.,”
she revealed, offering a rare glimpse into the loneliness she endured.
Namubiru later described the painful night she spent at her father’s vigil in Bweyogerere surrounded by strangers from her paternal side, yet feeling completely alone.
“Just like I’m an only child, I was by myself. I spent that night alone at my father’s vigil fighting off mosquitoes in my car.”
Even on the day of the burial, her mother and children only arrived shortly before the ceremony began.
Over a decade later, the grief and unanswered questions remain as vivid as ever.
“Tonight I’m in my house alone and especially emotional. I’m crying all the tears I never cried back then—and it’s been twelve years already. I have so many questions,” Iryn Namubiru confessed.
Iryn Namubiru’s reflection is not just a recollection of past pain it’s a powerful reminder of the silent burdens many carry for years. Her vulnerability is a call for compassion, healing, and the courage to speak what the heart has long held back.