While it is a struggle to make a career out of the entertainment industry, it is easy to pour it down when one takes on a political journey.
It could appear that the fame that comes from the entertainment path paves the political one but as soon as the political path starts to be defined, the entertainment path starts to have grass clipping on it.
In Uganda, several entertainers have had their entertainment careers melt into politics and what remains of them are the previous projects they outed at prime.
As we draw closer to the 2026 ballot, we bring you the list of entertainers, whose whose careers have fallen victim of the political wave.
Alien Skin was popular with his songs like tonkaka, emboozi y’enkola, kubalumya mutwe among others. His name became more popular after singer Pallaso beat him and he got public sympathy that led to a successful concert.
He however dug his grave when he started mocking and putting down NUP principal Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine and since then, he has been struggling to shine bright like he used to.
There is no doubt that singer Catherine Kusaasira was a darling to Ugandans. With her hit song “enkola ya taxi”, she won the heart of many women in the city. Her other hit songs, “Nalaalira”, “siddogo”, “sweet wange”, “wafuuka bikadde”, and several more, Kusaasira became one of the best band singers making money from introduction and wedding ceremonies.
Well, the turnaround came in when she openly joined politics on the “Tubonga naawe” project, siding with President Museveni in 2016. She seemed to have hit the sky with ranks, winning herself a presidential advisor’s role. She became a money bag, flaunting heaps of notes on the Internet and boasting how favoured she had become.
The heaps of money seemed to make her blind, dumb, and deaf, not seeing that she was burying her music career in a trench of tears. In 2020, fans started throwing plastic bottles at her whenever she stepped on stage. Since then, things have never been the same.
Big Eye (Ibrahim Mayanja) If you never wooed a lady on Big Eye’s hit tune “sula indicator”, you must be of the new age. Some of these millennial dropped into the bellies of their mothers on the song’s vibe. His other songs, “Nkuziniremu”, “phone busy”, “self-contained” and several more gave him more fame only to pour it down with his political move.
When the singer sided with the “yellow side”, a section of his fans, which had gone “red” threw insults at him, and vowed to have him disciplined. They launched a campaign to boycott him and his music so whenever he stepped on the stage, a rain of plastic bottles thrown at him whirled him off the stage. What followed was seeing him weep like a kid. Fortunately, big eye responded to a wake up call when he chose to leave NRM and side with Bobi Wine. He has been winning since then.
“Necklace” could be Ronald Mayinja‘s all-time hit song. With it, hundreds of women gave in to men that delivered their marriage manifestos. He later released several other songs that won him fame.
He first displayed his political ambitions when he sang “Africa”, a song that seemed to taunt the government and this was the start of it all. While the opposition thought he was dining with only them, he sided with the government too, and outed a song dubbed “Muzeyi” which seemed to praise the very government he had tainted with dirt.
Like Catherine Kusaasira and Big Eye, Mayinja could not perform confidently on any stage in 2021. Struggling to survive, he apologized to the opposition but all has not yet gone back to normal.
King Micheal(Michael Mugwanya)Formerly, DJ Micheal, the “muko muko” and “lido lido” hitmaker turned tables in bars during his stardom days. He was proclaimed the “king of dancehall” by a section of his fans, who probably didn’t listen to Vampino and Petermiles.
When he joined the “yellow trek”, things seemed to have gone west. The once-popular singer disappeared in thin air like a fart. Even at shows, he fought to win audience attention until some promoters and event’s organizers erased his name from their lists.
Despite his attempts to reclaim his lost spot in the music industry, his music remains under the shelves.
Bebe Cool(Moses Ssali)If he was not the “big size” he is, Bebe would have been in the brackets of Big Eye and Catherine Kusaasira. With his hit songs, Agenze, Kasepiki, love you every day, mbozzi za malwa, and several more, he managed to a scoop of loyal fans.
His allegiance to the “yellow side” has not changed and some people have loved him for his loyalty. From 2006 till date, he is the same singer with the same political stand.
Well, as he stands on the “yellow side”, he lost a section of fans who thought of him as a liberator. He also received the heap of bottles on stage but didn’t shed tears as Big Eye did.
Hadn’t it been for the political stand he took, some of his fans would not have given up on him.
However, the singer has proved his worth through new songs such as; “Tiktok”, “zzina”, and “bwowaba”, among others.
Chameleone aka Joseph Mayanja synonymous with his stage name, Mayanja has no political side. Today he is pro-government and tomorrow on the opposition side. He ran for the Kampala Mayoral role in 2021 but was whipped by Erias Lukwago.
Well, he had walked his musical journey so well that he was thought to be Uganda’s number one and Africa’s number six, only to fall out of ranks for his political instability. Like Bebe Cool, he is still standing but does not stand as he was during his shining days.
Bobi Wine’s human interest songs were a sign that he was considering a political career and indeed, it worked for him. When he won the legislative seat in 2017 representing Kyadondo East, he attracted a swarm of supporters from both the music and political circles.
In 2021, he eyed the top spot but was thumped by President Museveni.
After the political rainfall, he could not make a comeback to the music industry because he had been blocked from performing on stages and some of his music was banned. Since he joined politics, his biggest hit has been “Kyarenga”, the rest have been mediocre songs. His recent, ” Nalumansi” was criticized by many as having been of low quality in lyrics and production.
Now called council Robert Kyagulanyi, Bobi Wine continues to win hearts with politics not music.
Kadongo kamu singer Mathias Malukagga seems to be eating on silver plates as the mayor of Kyengera town. Like Bobi Wine, the “namboole” singer used his music fame to take on a political spot. He sang “Parliament” and several other political songs that won him favour from Kyengera town residents.
Well, after capturing power, he seems to have let go of music. Despite outing a number of new songs, these have not outgrown his political image. In fact, he is now perceived by many as a politician rather than a musician.
Well, the list is as long as the Nile stretches so we chose to close it up here. Other entertainers to put to the mind are; Dr. T. Amale, Dr. Hilderman, Geoffrey Lutaaya, Judith Babirye, Nubian Li, Kapalaga Beibe, Flavia Namulindwa and several others.
