SAD! Disney Star Nikita Pearl Waligwa dies at 15

Nikita Pearl Waligwa, the Ugandan child actress who starred in Disney’s Queen of Katwe, a film about a chess prodigy from a slum in Uganda, has died. She shot to fame after she played Gloria who hailed from the slums of Uganda in the movie.

Nikita died on Saturday, February 15th after a battle with a brain tumour. She was first diagnosed in 2016 and Queen of Katwe director Mira Nair reportedly mobilised people to help fund her treatment in India, with Ugandan doctors quoted as saying they did not have the necessary equipment. She was given the all-clear in 2017 but last year, she suffered a relapse after another tumour was found in her brain.

Speaking to local media, a family member said Nikita suffered severe pain before she died.

“The brain was swollen and it is exerting a lot of pressure.” the family source

May her soul rest in peace, Amen.