Woman who undressed over not receiving government relief food haunted by viral video

By Allan Mwesigwa 

A twenty-five year old woman from Mukitokolo, Kawempe division, who undressed herself because she had not received food relief meant for the vulnerable, has told her story. 

A video of Annet Nakite undressing to protest not receiving food to feed her four children and mother went viral on May 6, 2020. 

Nakite spoke to this reporter and explained what led her to the dramatic action that brought her to national attention but has also blighted her life. 

Nakite said that she had been staying in Kiswera, working as a waitress. She was living with a friend but when the bar that employed her closed due the March 31, 2020 lockdown, she decided to relocate her four children to her mother. 

“I left my friend injured and decided to come to mum knowing that they had received food donation, only to find my mother Sarah Nabukenya peeling cassava. Upon gazing at me, she asked me if I had at least one thousand to top for the meal which I did not have,” Nakite narrates. 

With four hungry children who had not had a proper meal for days, Nakite left her mother’s Kawempe home to seek aid from friends nearby. She was shocked when they informed her that they too were struggling to make ends to meet as they had never received food relief supposed to be delivered by the Covid-19 Taskforce constituted by President Yoweri Museveni. 

Nakite said that on realising she had nowhere to turn, “At this point I felt like life was coming to an end and I can’t tell how I ended up undressing myself.” 

Nakite’s protest was captured by a passerby with a smartphone who then shared the clip on social media through WhatsApp. It has since gone viral, earning Nakite instant notice, much of it detrimental. 

Nakite’s mother Sarah Nabukenya said, “People came running to me and told me my daughter had cursed the area by undressing in public. I almost ran mad because I could not believe this had happened to my daughter.” 

Nabukenya said that since the incident, “I have to beg people to forgive my daughter because she was not in her senses when she did what she did. Like any mother, I cannot abandon my daughter inspite what she has done.” 

While government relief food is yet to reach the family, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) called Caring Heart has already reached out to Nakite and her mother. 

Caring Heart director Paul Musisi led well wishers to donate maize flour, sugar, soap and other assorted items to tide over the financially hard up family. 

Musisi said that when Uganda is through with the fight against Coronavirus, he hoped they could mobilise funds for the education of Nakite’s four children. Nakite had her first child at thirteen years of age.

Edited by David Tumusiime