According to Fred Allen, a popular American comedian, “A celebrity is a person who works hard all his life to become well known, then wears dark glasses to avoid being recognised.” Here in this article, you will either agree or disagree with him. Ugandan celebrities like those from other parts of the worldare people usually attached with so much public attention, they may include royalty, socialites, actors, artists, sports stars and many others. It is important to know that some people are born famous such as Princes, princesses and kids of celebrity while others have to work their way to the top. This article is going to focus on atypical Ugandan celeb who toils hard to enjoy massive attention from the several media platforms because it is through media that many have managed to gain so much popularity.

Unlike Hollywood celebrities who have several paparazzi following them around, you will be glad to know that, that is not the case in Uganda, Usually media houses get story tips through social media posts and so there is some level of privacy. There is a whole list of celebrities but in no particular order, here is a list of the ten most famous people in Uganda.

Top Celebrities in Uganda

Stacy Amito.

This young lady changed the fashion industry when she participated and won the first season of Africa’s Next Top model. She has since become a fashion icon and inspiration to many young aspiring models. She has worked with several agencies such as DNA model Management based in New York, Viva Model Management in Europe and Why Not Model Management in Milan from which she has worked on high-end gigs such as Kanye West’s Yeezy collection, Spanish Vogue, Teen Vogue, Vanity Fair and many others. Some people believe she changed at how ordinary Ugandans perceive modelling as a career and she will forever be praised for that.

Anne Kansime.

She is a multiple award winning comedian whose background roots from way back in the days of a group called Theatre factory. She was known for always acting as the child in most of their plays but when the group split, she went solo and started making video clips that bought her a large online following. She has even been named as the Queen of Comedy by some African media outlets, a title that has later helped her scoop several awards such as; the 2015 African Oscar award for favourite comedian, Airtel women of substance awards 2014, Social Media Awards(Favorite Celebrity) and many more others. Kansime is mostly known for skits about an arrogantMukiga woman who never looses a fight and you can watch most of them on youtube and facebook when you search for her.

Bad black aka ShanitaNamuyimbwa.

She is a socialite and came to the limelight as the most extravagant money spender throwing constant lavish black-themed parties for kampala’s crème de la crème. Meddlers then started inquiring about the source of her wealth and it was then the court sessions of her and a white wealthy man known as David Greenhalgh. She was sent to prison but after her release she decided to give a try at music. Bad black is a lady of seasons, she once started a church and promised to give up her party life but word has it that she decided to change her limelight name to Snail baby.

Zari Hussein.

She is a socialite, entrepreneur, musician and mother. Zari first came to the limelight as a musician with her one-hit-wonder titled “Baby I’m fine”, however that didn’t capture her much attention but it was her marriage to the late Ivan Semwanga and the ostentatious life she lived thereafter. Zari then left her marriage to live with Tanzanian bongo flavor superstar, Diamond Platinum and that has been reason enough to keep her in several tabloids. Zari is a modern day mother who wears and survives on latest brand releases, in simple terms, she is a slay queen!

Eddy Kenzo.

He is the first and only Uganda Musician to win a BET award and is credited for raising the platform for the now famous Ghetto Kids in the song “Sitya Loss”, a song that won him the award. Eddy Kenzo has gone ahead and won several awards including the most gifted East African at the channel O Music Video Awards, Viewer’s Choice Award and many others. He is also famous for his relationship with songstress RemaNamakula one of Uganda’s best vocalists whom he has sired a child with.

Bobi wine.

Robert Kyagulanyi best known by his stage name Bobi wine is a musician viewed as a ray of hope especially among the low income earners of Uganda. This once former ghetto boy used his music to become one of the wealthiest Ugandans alive. He is commonly referred to as the Ghetto President among very many other names. Among many things, he is a married, family man who is also currently involved in active politics and has participated in humanitarian work that are documented by several newspapers

Stephen Kiprotich.

He came in the limelight when he won a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics in London. After this win, he was received with so much prestige by several Ugandans because it had taken several decades before any National brought home a gold Olympics medal. Kiprotich is known for being a long distance runner and has won several medals like; the gold at the World Championships in Athletics. In modern times, whenever there is a mention of cross country competitions, Kiprotich is the name that will come to mind.

Dennis Onyango.

He is the goal keeper of Uganda Cranes, the country’s National football team. Onyango is best known and praised for keeping balls out of the Ugandan nets and the most popular being the game that saw Ugandans make an appearance at the Africa Cup of Nations after a period of 38years.Onyango brought home the 2017 CAF’s player of the year among other accolades.

Ellah Natumbwe.

She is a beauty queen that won the 2013 Miss Uganda pageant and went ahead to represent Uganda at the Miss World competitions. She is one of the most vibrant former beauty queens that have maintained their presence in the limelight because she later joined Big brother Africa, a popular African reality Tv show that increased her stardom around Africabecause of her relationship with one of the house mates called Idris Sultan from Tanzania. Among her many projects, she is currently playing as the lead character in Second Chance Uganda, a television soap opera. Ellah as commonly known acts as Isabel, a wife to a wealthy rich man that died but however was reincarnated back to life in a much younger body.

Keemlove black.

He is the first transgender person to come out in Uganda through a television interview. He has since become a person of public scrutiny, something that has at the same time made him popular especially on social media. He is always attending the high class parties around town and was the 2014 Miss Uganda Pride. She recently revealed that she is going to start a reality TV show known as Daughters of Keem featuring fellow transgender persons. Keem is very loud on her facebook page and be sure to keep up with her life there.

How To Become A Celebrity in Uganda

After getting acquitted with some celebrities, you need to know how to become one if you wish to become one. Here are a few tips to make you a celebrity.

1. You’ve got to have an online presence especially social media and acquire as many followers as possible because these will ensure to blow the horn for you.
2. Maintain friendships and acquitainces with other celebrities. This will bring you media attention because you will always be seen with them in public thus introducing you to their social circles.
3. You need money, money and more money because you have to maintain a lavish appearance if you want people to believe in you. people expect celebrities to be rich, classy people that follow trends and only money can get you that far.
4. Attend social gatherings and talk about them. When you attend the high-end occasions around the city, people will occasionally seek you out to see how the event went down.
5. Be generous. A generous giver will always turn heads wherever the place and time and one of the ways of generous giving is through charity and donations.
6. Nurture your talent to become extraordinary. Most celebrities are mostly known because of them being outstanding in their talents such as musicians, actors, dancers, artisits and many others.
7. Be different. Anything that makes you different from other people will attract attention and the people of the Pride movement are the biggest beneficiary of this.
8. Always dress skimply. You don’t have to live an angelic life to become a celebrity but however even the bad can make you famous like Tabloids sell mostly because of pictures of indecently dressed people and with your face always plastered in newspapers, you will soon become a socialite.

As you come to the end of this article, you need to know that being famous doesn’t come free. It will cost you, your privacy because your fans are entitled to know what their favourite person in the world is doing. Being a celebrity may also push you to the limit especially when it comes to morality but that is part of the package.

Author

Monica Nabimanya