Tuwangye shows Shamsa a photo of his son on his mobile phone. Photo By Ismail Kezaala
(Tuwangye had an afternoon with Shamsa, joking about careers, his life and prosperity to fame.)
Hi I am Shamsa Najjingo.
I am Richard Tuwangye.
Give me some money.
If you want money, I can direct you. On Kampala Road, there is a building called Bank of Uganda. However, Mutebile (BOU Governor) is not my uncle, so don’t tell him I sent you.
Are you a Mukiga?
Me? No. I just act as a Mukiga but really, there is no Mukiga this short. And besides, I have a great body, Bakiga have irregular bodies.
I used to like that song you did when you were in VIP, what happened to your singing career?
I still do music but I am a one of those artistes that prefer not to release their songs. I sing for fun. Life is made up of stages, that group started out as a dance group and along the way, we have all pursued our dreams; Meddie is a videographer, Isaac is an architect and I am into so many things, a jack of all trades. I am a freelance advertising copywriter, visual arts agent, primarily I am a theater performer, TV and film actor.
Did your parents approve of your choice of career?
Each and every parent from my parents’ generation possesses that character of undermining performing arts because everyone during their time who dared to take it up as a career did not reap from it. I had those moments, especially with my father but he later accepted because I wanted that. I studied Performing Arts (Music Dance and Drama), although my father wanted me to do a Bachelors in Fine Art.
How was The Hostel series before you left, in your own words?
It was many things, a great opportunity for me. In Uganda, the TV industry is crawling at tortoise speed. The only problem though, it was a 7am to 5pm job, limiting my day span and not paying enough to compensate the lost time.
You played Twine, a player. Are you a player in real life?
If I was a player in real life, I wouldn’t be alive, would I? Twine is different from Richard Tuwangye. I am in a stable relationship and I have a son called Gabriel (shows her a picture on his phone.)
