Winnie Twinomugisha Ndiyo, a former aspirant for the Ntungamo Woman MP seat in the 2021 general elections, is appealing to First Lady Janet Kataaha Museveni to help her recover Shs 7 million she claims was lost in a human trafficking scam.
Twinomugisha alleges that Ruhama East MP Benjamin Kamukama Katangura, a longtime acquaintance, facilitated her trafficking to Dubai under the false promise of a teaching job.
Her ordeal drew public attention last year when distressing videos surfaced on social media showing her pleading for rescue from what she described as a trafficking center in Dubai. In the clips, she claimed she was among several Ugandan women being prepared for sale.
Speaking to URN after her return to Uganda, Twinomugisha explained that she turned to Kamukama for help seeking employment abroad after facing financial difficulties. She says that Kamukama and his wife, through THK-Company, demanded Shs 7 million, which she borrowed from a Sacco using her father as guarantor.
However, upon arriving in Dubai, she was reportedly abandoned at a reception center with no job in sight. She described a harrowing experience resisting efforts to confiscate her passport and phone—an ordeal she claims many other women did not survive.
With help from fellow Ugandans and well-wishers, she eventually escaped and made her way back home. Since her return, Twinomugisha says she has made several unsuccessful attempts to contact Kamukama and is now calling for intervention from the First Lady, fearing her father may lose property used to secure the loan.
She currently lives with a friend in Ntinda and claims to have received threats from unknown individuals warning her to stop speaking out.
“I’m seeking the First Lady’s intervention as my last resort,” she said, adding that she had recorded statements at Old-Kira Road police station and CID headquarters in Kibuli but received no meaningful protection.
In response, MP Kamukama denied the accusations and accused Twinomugisha of tarnishing his name for political gain. While acknowledging that he helped her travel to the UAE, he insists that he never personally received the Shs 7 million.
“She’s unfairly accusing me. I’ve helped over 150 women travel to Saudi Arabia. I even offered her a return ticket, which she refused,” Kamukama said.
“I only connected her to a company. The money she paid didn’t come to me.” Kamukama further claimed that Twinomugisha owes him Shs 17 million and accused her of avoiding dialogue.
“She’s blocked me and her husband. I’m open to talking,” he added.
This is why many believe that majority of our MPs are not really passionate about representing their people but rather finding survival. When the politics failed, she ended up in Dubai. Anyone would think that at her level, she has consolidated herself enough to stay with her people, feel their pain and share their part.
I know people of that kind who have used their positions to traffic people to the Middle East without facilitating their employment, and they never get apprehended. I hope the lady receives justice and a refund from the perpetrators involved.