DNA tests have confirmed four people as the biological children of the late Kadongo Kamu legend Paul Job Kafeero, while ruling out 21 others who had made similar claims.
The confirmed children are Benedicto Kafeero, Simon Peter Kafeero, Thomas Swaz Kafeero, also known as Swazi, and Elizabeth Nagawa.
The results were released at the Police Forensic Directorate at Police Headquarters in Naguru, Kampala.
Police Forensic Director AIGP Andrew Mubiru and Government Analytical Laboratory Director Kepher Kuchana Kateu announced the findings.
The briefing was overseen by Mr Balaam Barugahara, the former minister of State for Youth and Children Affairs, who is now the minister for Local Government.
DNA Results Rule Out 21 Claimants
The DNA tests were conducted by the Police Forensic Directorate and the Government Analytical Laboratory.
Officials said the tests ruled out 21 individuals who had claimed to be Kafeero’s biological children.
The announcement left several claimants in tears. Some openly rejected the findings.
“I won’t leave the house, even if it means using other means. The results are not genuine,” one of the claimants said.
By 10am, several claimants, members of Kafeero’s family and people from the entertainment industry had gathered at the venue.
They were waiting for results expected to address long-running paternity claims linked to the late musician’s estate.
Laboratories Say Results Matched
Mr Kateu said both laboratories used similar scientific methods, equipment and reagents.
He said the results from the two government laboratories matched.
“We have been conducting these tests for several years in government and police laboratories, and we have saved many families and reunited others. You went to the government and requested help to resolve this matter. The final results are out. Please let the conflicts end now. We do not want to hear more disputes about Kafeero’s children,” Kateu said.
AIGP Mubiru then announced results that matched those from the Government Analytical Laboratory.
The results confirmed Benedicto Kafeero, Simon Peter Kafeero, Thomas Swaz Kafeero and Elizabeth Nagawa as Kafeero’s biological children.
Elizabeth Nagawa, the only daughter confirmed by the tests, told journalists that people occupying the late singer’s homes as his children should leave immediately.
Estate Dispute Moves to Court
The DNA tests followed a dispute over Kafeero’s property.
The conflict intensified earlier this month and attracted the intervention of Mr Barugahara.
He had proposed exhuming Kafeero’s remains before securing a court order to resolve the paternity dispute.
Barugahara said he had received about 30 people who claimed to be Kafeero’s children.
However, five of them disappeared before DNA samples were taken.
He said the four confirmed children had profiles that matched earlier DNA tests conducted years ago.
According to Barugahara, some claimants had rejected the earlier findings.
He said the confirmed children will use the latest results in proceedings before the Mengo Magistrate’s Court.
The court process is expected to update records and help establish their claim to the late musician’s estate.
Paul Job Kafeero, widely known as the “Prince of Kadongo Kamu,” died in 2007.
He remains one of Uganda’s most celebrated folk musicians.