In 2020, the arrest and imprisonment of singers Tems and Omah Lay in Uganda caused a significant stir. Recently, Tems’ manager, Muyiwa Awoniyi, shared his experience of their time in prison, along with the valuable lesson he learned during their confinement. Here are Muyiwa’s insights.
Speaking about his experience in prison and what he learned from his time in prison, Tems’ manager Muyiwa Awoniyi said:
MUYIWA AWONIYI: They took us to the isolation ward, that’s where they take people that are like crazy. There was this guy that was there that killed a politician. There was this rapist that was there. So I can tell you how my first night was. The lights don’t go off, so you’re sleeping with the lights on. And then there’s no bed, there’s no nothing, you’re sleeping on the floor. Insects, bugs, bad smell based on pit latrine. That’s where we were staying and bro, I will never forget. The first view when I opened my eyes. There was somebody that was looking through the bars of my gate, just looking at me straight down. Like imagine you open your eyes and that is the first thing you see. Two things happened: the first thing is I was brought to my reality that I was not on my bed. I was like “oh, I’m still in prison”. The prisoner was just looking at me with a straight face and I was looking at him. First thing that came to my mind was I hope this guy knows I can actually fight. But then what came out of his mouth shocked me. “Have you eaten?” I was like what? Then he throws like what looked like bread but it was not bread. And it was flat. It looked like pancake bread. So he threw it and was like you guys are all over the news you know? Then he threw a newspaper and we’re at the front of the newspaper as well. I was like ah ah, this thing is really a big deal in Uganda sha? So the cell doors were opened then I went out and I met a couple of prisoners and I spoke to them. I met a lot of killers, I met a lot of rapists. But the fundamental thing I learned because I was speaking to them on a one-on-one basis, one thing I learned was that there is nobody that is beyond redemption. Because, and this is the best way I will say it: the lion chases the deer praying ‘God give me food’, the deer escapes the lion thinking ‘God you saved my life’, at the end of the day, God gets the glory. Everybody has a reason why they’re doing what they’re doing and even if it doesn’t make sense to us, all you need is a real conversation to have full context. That’s what I learned. Don’t quickly judge because you don’t even know what you would do if you were in their position.
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Speaking a little bit about Tems’ time in the Ugandan prison, Muyiwa said:
MUYIWA AWONIYI: Entering prison, as a woman they had taken her to the female section. Me I was just worried about her. Like mehn, I’m not with her. What the hell is going on? I will come to find out that Tems ehn, Tems conducted praise and worship in a whole prison cell. Everybody was singing with her. Like bro, she took over the whole prison. Anyway, Tems will speak for herself.
Not Tems turning prison into her own personal home fellowship 😂 I love this story! I also really enjoyed what Muyiwa said about the lesson he learned in prison.