Namubiru: How I survived the tragedy of a Ugandan boat

Ugandan singer Irene Namubiru was among those who survived the boat tragedy in Lake Victoria on Saturday night. Recounting the ordeal, she says that many could have been saved had they paid attention to security measures.

Friday night, I tried to sleep. I could not. There is a church born nearby and they started praying very early.

Instead of annoying me, I started praying with the people of the church. I slept around 5am.

Saturday, I went to my living room in Lubowa for a pedicure.

There, a friend, Mr. Hope Mukasa, calls me and says, "You know what, I'm here. Friends have invited me for something. We go on a boat. "

I was not sure I wanted to go, but I asked him what time they were leaving

He told me that maybe in an hour, and then he called back after a few minutes to tell me, "We leave at 1:30 pm, so that leaves you 50 minutes.

I told him, "No way. I do not do boat cruises, so I give up.

At 1:30 pm, he calls me and says, "You know what? Can you believe? We are always here. We are not gone yet.

I said, "You know what, go. I will not do it. Just go. "

I returned home around 2 pm

Hope calls me again shortly to tell me, "So you really do not come? You should come. Come and try it. "

I led to Ggaba. I arrived at quarter past three in KK Beach. [Hope] I saw from afar and beckoned. I found them at a table. Prince David Wasajja was at the same table.

People were asking questions about the situation of the boat. The boat did not arrive, but the alcohol was flowing. There was all kinds of alcohol. And all you asked for, you were served to the bottle. I did not know who was funding it, but they said that it was a gentleman called Freeman.

So when I thought the boat was not going to arrive at four o'clock, I said to Hope, "I want to go back."

But he asked me to stay.

The second time [I attempted to leave]they said, "Okay, now the boat is here."

I saw it from a distance, but it took another 30 minutes to arrive.

We headed for those little boats that were taking people to the big boat and my heart was saying, "No, do not leave".

I've shot, [went] and sitting somewhere where I found another friend named Arnold Simbwa and others.

There was another person called Stella Ntanda who said to me, "Iryn, no way. You do not leave us here …?

So I stayed. The third time, I headed for my car. My friends asked, "Are you really going there?

They said, "Okay, come say goodbye to Freeman."

On the shore, they said, "Let's go!"

Then Freeman tried to explain to me, "You know, we had to leave around noon, but the boat had problems. Now it's here. We can go. You know, the boat had some failures.

I was like, "Oh my God, some misses?"

Anyway, we took one of those little boats [took] we at the big boat.

On the big boat, the music was booming and it was full, even overloaded. I did not have a seat. I did not have a lifejacket.

The boat that dropped us was coming in with life jackets, so I called back and said, "We have to get lifejackets." So they gave us three blue lifejackets. I wore my jacket and closed it.

Many have never had jackets and many have not even attached them. When Hope wore his, he left it open, claiming that he felt very warm. That's when I said, "Do not joke, do you think that when the boat capsizes, it gives you time to tie your jacket?"

People were in a good mood and many were already so drunk or intoxicated. I had a place in the middle of the boat where I could observe. From the beginning, the DJs told us to balance the boat.

There was someone next to me, Freeman and others. I did not dance, but I was still slipping. I realized that the boat was still leaning to the same side where I was, and the DJ kept telling us "balance the boat, balance the boat, please."

Hoping that Mukasa had noticed that water was flowing in the boat, he showed it to me. By the time he would come in and out.

In fact, the boat was under repair because we were sailing. The light came and went. I did not know it was the engine that broke down, that we were not moving in the middle of the lake.

I was a little scared when a wave hit the boat and a loudspeaker flew into the water.

There were other boats pbading by, who understood that we had a problem and warned us that we were about to capsize.

They asked those who wanted to leave. About fifteen people left and others were too drunk to worry about it.

We knew that this boat was still out of order and out of order for more than a month before we used it without a license and the skippers were not qualified. They even jumped off the boat and let us die.

But when it was too dark, I worried. I always have my phone on me, so I turned on the lamp to save my bag. I told Hope, "Do you realize we're going?" I just held my bag and prepared myself.

As soon as I finished my sentence, the boat capsized.

I'm so scared of the water. I do not swim. I only learned because it was compulsory at Namasagali College, where I studied and where I was saved by drowning. I always panic and swallow water.

This time, I did not panic. I held my breath for about 40 seconds or a minute and I was hawking under the water. I never plunged, but I did what I saw my kids doing when they dive. I peddled and my head came out of the water.

Maybe I was floating, I do not know.

Around me in the dark, people screamed, lamented and others repented.

I kept my phone so we could be found.

There was this lady who did not stop taking me by my side and put on my jacket. I would just take off my jacket. I kept going forward.

And then, the big waves started to arrive, I thought I was going to die because they were taking off my jacket. I felt my legs get tired.

Finally, a boat came. I shouted 'help! Help! "Waving my phone.

They say that it was thanks to the torch that they saw us and that I was saved.

The lady who caught my jacket died before getting on the lifeboat. I then realized that she was the owner of the capsized boat with her husband. She was right next to me.

The guy came directly to me. He said, "Relax, relax. Do not scream. Get closer. I got closer. He asked me for the phone. I gave it to him and he held my hand. I did not manage to carry the bag, it was so heavy. He took it and put it in the boat and he pulled me in it.

My legs froze and I had the impression of weighing a ton. I gathered my energy and headed towards the back of the boat with the feeling that my lower part was numb.

Then he started rescuing other people. But many people started to hold the boat and it seemed about to capsize.

It was then that I let a mother out of all the cries that the whole lake must have heard. The boatman said that I was destabilizing him and they told me to shut up.

We quickly reached the shore. There were 10 of us, but only nine of us survived.

As we were leaving the boat to land, I asked the pilot, "Can you give me my phone please?"

People shouted at me, "Do you want the phone or do you want life?" Get out of the boat! I later learned that he had returned twice to save people.

When the last person was removed, the rescuer said, "She already looks dead or is dying …"

The other revelers on this island were lamenting. Others were in shock while many were helping.

Before I went looking for other bodies, I broke down and I moaned.

I said, "Oh my God, I've been saved. I can not believe I'm alive. "

People were crying Iryn Namubiru in my presence, because no one could recognize me. My wig, my shoes and my makeup were all gone.

I then tried to resuscitate the others, but they were already dead.

I asked for hope. He was looking for me too.

But he heard me speak and said "Iryn, oh thank God."

Right away, he said, "Imagine, you refused to come …" Then he disappeared.

In retrospect, there were so many signs that this boat trip was not right.

I did not want to go there; I saw heavy consumption of alcohol, heard that the boat had mechanical problems, noticed the shortage of lifejackets, that the boat was overloaded; the DJ tells us to balance the boat … Lives could have been saved if we took the boards more seriously.

It was a tragic and painful warning that safety is important. I am very grateful to God and all those who saved my life.

I mourn the ones we lost. I pray that we learn from this and never allow such a thing to happen again.

This is a condensed version of Namubiru's narrative.