Police say the missing bride, Bushira Najjuuko, 24, gave a bodaboda rider her changing dresses to take home after saloon makeup before she vanished.
Najjuuko, a businesswoman at Zainab Aziza building in Nakasero, Kampala, has been missing since Friday, March 10, 2023, two days to her wedding day.
She had been living with her parents in Katereke Cell, Kyengera Town Council in Wakiso district, but her mother, Aisha Nalukenge, is in tears fearing for the life of her daughter, while the guests who had been invited for the wedding celebrations were in shock.
Nalukenge is worried that her daughter could have been kidnapped for unknown reasons.
However, Kampala Metropolitan Police deputy spokesman Luke Owoyesigyire in a statement released on Monday evening said: “While at Nakivubo (Ham Shopping Mall), Najjuuko reportedly handed over her changing dresses to Kivumbi Ali, a bodaboda rider, to take home. She informed him that she would follow later, but never showed up, raising concerns about her whereabouts”.
The rider allegedly informed the mother that the bride was on her way home.
He said Nalukenge reported the matter of her missing daughter at Nsangi Police Station, saying she went missing while on her way to Shafuras Bride Make-up Shop in Nakivubo for makeup treatment.
“Najjuuko was preparing for her marriage ceremony, which was scheduled for Sunday, March 12, 2023 and efforts to locate her have so far been unsuccessful,” he said.
Police also learnt that the bride, now referred to as victim was supposed to marry Farouk Mugalu, a resident of Kagoma in Wakiso district.
“Investigations are ongoing, and we urge anyone with information about Najjuuko’s whereabouts to contact the nearest Police station.”
“We appeal to the public to help in any way possible to ensure the safe return of Najjuuko to her family,” Owoyesigyire adds in the statement.
Did Najjuuko develop cold feet?
The sobbing mother on Monday told Bukedde TV that the friends were shocked that after saloon makeup, Najjuuko decided to walk barefoot towards Kisenyi Taxi Park fearing that the shoes would allegedly wash away her makeup, also popularly known as ‘inna’.
“But midway, she changed her mind and said she preferred to use the New Taxi Park with less commotion since she said she did not like places with many passengers who would squeeze her and wash off her makeup,” the mother said.
She dismissed possibilities that Najjuuko could have fled because she did not love the groom, saying she (Najjuuko) is the one who identified her boyfriend, with whom they were at school together.
“That is not true. No one forced her. She identified the man and they have been in love since their school days,” the mother insisted.
However, Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesman, Patrick Onyango gave another version, saying the Police were following information that Najjuuko could have decided to run away because she was allegedly being forced to marry a man of not her choice.