Nikita Pearl Waligwa, a Ugandan child actress who starred in a Disney movie on the extraordinary life of a local chess prodigy, has died at the age of 15.
According to Gayaza High School, which she reportedly attended since 2018, the cause of her death is brain tumor. Local media reported that Waligwa had first been diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2016.
The news prompted an outpouring of grief on social media, users expressing their condolences and recalling her role in the movie directed by Mira Nair and filmed in Katwe, a slum in Uganda’s capital, Kampala.
The movie is a biopic of PhionaMutesi who went from living in Uganda’s slums to becoming an international chess star. Nikita played the main character’s friend Gloria in the fil”Fare thee well Nikita Pearl Waligwa. You were a darling to many and we have lost you to brain tumor at such a tender age,” the school’s tweet read. “Rest in Perfect Peace dear.”
The “Queen of Katwe” also starred LupitaNyong’o who said on Instagram that Nikita played Gloria with “such vibrancy.”
“In her real life she had the enormous challenge of battling brain cancer,” Nyong’o said. “My thoughts and prayers are with her family and community as they come to terms with having to say goodbye so soon.”
David Oyelowo, who was a co-actor in the film, wrote on Instagram that Nikita was “a ball of light” in the film and in life.
“Her battle with a brain tumor was humbling to witness,” Oyelowo wrote. “Her light will live on.”
She was first diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2016 and “Queen of Katwe” director Mira Nair reportedly mobilized people to help fund her treatment.She was given the all-clear in 2017 but last year was found to have another tumor.
