She is an advocate with Rwakafuuzi & Company Advocates and the founder of Domestic Violence Legal Aid Uganda (DOVILAID) which offers free legal aid to children, women and the elderly experiencing domestic violence.
Pamba is the third of four girls born to the late Gilbert Okumu Barasa and Rose Okumu Tibiwa who succumbed to HIV/Aids in 1998 and 1997 respectively. The four sisters were taken on by uncles who paid their school fees.

She went to Madhvani Primary School and Holy Cross Lake View S.S for her primary and O-level respectively. “I performed well in my O-level and acquired a bursary to study at Uganda Martyrs Namugongo where I scored 24 points and got government sponsorship for my degree at university.”
In 2007, Pamba joined Makerere University as a law student, but, as she shares, her real troubles seemed to start from that point on;

“The time I thought I would be settled at the university became a nightmare. I do not know what happened to the uncles but now we had to move in and stay with our eldest sister. We had been so fortunate that my other siblings had always studied well and had bursaries so we had not been too burdensome to our caretakers.

At university, I did petty jobs for pocket money and for meals at home. I used to move through hostels asking students if they had dirty laundry I could wash for some money. Some girls looked at me weirdly, others sent me away but some gave me work. I would charge Shs300 for every cloth I washed, Shs700 for bedcovers and Shs1, 000 for blankets.

I also wrote inspirational quotes that I printed at Shs50 a copy, photocopied and resold them at Shs200 a copy. I was withdrawn because I always felt low and had no friends. I continued washing laundry on the side which made some students shun me. Amid all this, I was the guild representative in my first and second year, and the hall communication minister in the third year.

Navigating the unexpected nooks 
My performance for first and second semesters was also poor so I knew I had to work harder. While as a government-sponsored student I studied for free and got free residence in the halls, I had to find the money to pay for the papers I had failed (retakes).

I got pregnant in my last semester and fell sick all the time, so I failed more papers. My boyfriend then, also the father of my children, raised money for my retakes and I was able to successfully complete my degree in 2011. I gave birth to my first child the same year.

I wanted to be an advocate but you are required to go to the Law Development Centre first. My boyfriend this time acquired a loan to facilitate my studies at LDC, while he stayed back to take care of our seven-month old baby.

But I needed more money than just the tuition fees. At LDC it is about the cases handled and I could not afford these. I was so frustrated that I ended up failing and I was discontinued from LDC in 2013. But it did not occur to me that I should give up.

Fighting to hold on
I started selling clothes on different market days in Jinja. I went to Kakira, Magamaga, Musoli, Mutai, Mpumudde, Buwenge, Kumwalo, Masese and the Madhvani Estate camps.

I also realised that there were many people in need of legal aid and relationship therapy as women suffer a lot. In February 2014, I approached an uncle with a request to pay for my tuition and he did. At LDC, it was a requirement for all students to wear black and white so when a friend asked me to find him a shirt, I thought it would be a good idea to sell second hand shirts to the students at the centre.

I would wake up as early as 4am to go to Owino St Balikuddembe Market and buy shirts at as low as Shs1,000 each and I would sell them at Shs10,000 each. On a good day, I would make over Shs500,000 but I also maintained my shops in Jinja.

I was always late for lectures but my friends would book me a front seat so that I could sneak in with my sack of clothes when the facilitator wasn’t looking. They would also hide the attendance list until I was in the room and had signed.” In April this year, Pamba finally graduated from LDC.

In two years, Pampa intends to start a law firm in Jinja to empower women to fight for the social and financial rights. She also intends to start a Pamba Match Maker Organisation to help single people find spouses. She also plans to import clothing, jewellery and other accessories from China and Dubai.

Life lessons
I have learnt to do any kind of work I get. I do not tolerate mistakes. I dedicate all my might to a project and when given a file, I do not sleep before it is finished. I feel very contented when my client is satisfied with my work.

We watched her hustle!