Tracking Straka
Mention the name Pamela Otti and only a few people will know who you are talking about. But mention Straka Mwezi and almost everyone who watches TV in Uganda would know the person.
By Pidson Kareire
Mention the name Pamela Otti and only a few people will know who you are talking about. But mention Straka Mwezi and almost everyone who watches TV in Uganda would know the person.
That is what I found out when I set out to understand who Straka is. For days I called and set up appointments which always aborted. Then I tried the other way - of tracing where she came from.
Straka Mwezi real name Pamela Otti, 27, started working as a waitress in late 1990s at New Life Bar, Nakulabye. She later went to DV8, a bar and restaurant on Wilson Road in Kampala where she was working as Karaoke emcee.
In 1999 she joined Colline Sserubiri and Fred Ssegawa who were emcees at Sabrinas Pub and started working with them. She joined WBS in the year 2001 to co-host the African Rhythms with Charles Oimuke and their show became so popular.
When Club Silk started Street Jam, she became the first emcee to preside over the event. She has since become synonymous with such big concerts. Recently when Beat FM opened, she was given a job as a presenter. At Beat FM, she presents the morning show with Moses Katongole and Davis Wills Ssekiranda.
Straka has found a place in the heart of young Ugandans who love music. Some call her during her live programme on WBS. Her “Rate show†as she pronounces it commands a lot of popularity and so does Straka herself.
She attracts attention at concerts mainly because of her fashion statements and hairstyles.
I tried to find her stylist but I found that she does not stick to anyone in particular.
Straka likes to add the word baby to her stage name and wears a fiery hairstyle all the time.
Her natural charm and flamboyance now make people of all walks of life yearn to have contact with the girl they watch every Thursday night on TV from 11:00pm till late.
This new-found fame propelled Straka from her muzigo in Kanyanya to I will not tell lest she gets bombarded.
Late last year, she bought her first car and since then she has driven a Toyota Kabina, a Mark II and today she cruises in a blue short-chassis Pajero.
Straka has created not just a cult following around her, but also fear. Call up artistes she associates with and ask them about her and all you will get is dead silence. The best will tell you that: “I fear Staka!†Is it because her WBS Late Show wields a lot of influence in the artiste’s world? Or it is just the respect!
Straka is said to have gone to St.Josephs, Nagalama in 1995 and left in 1996 when was in senior two. She then joined City High School but did not complete ‘O’ level there.
She has a baby boy with Charles Oimuke, her former workmate, who is currently on kyeyo in UK.
Straka is described as someone who never becomes angry however much you talk ill of her.
To journalists, she is very slippery. If she says yes to an interview, it is likely to be no. Though brave on the screen, she has a phobia for journalists. The three days I was on her case, she abandoned her Pajero at Capital FM for two hours and finally used a back door to escape. The next thing I got from the receptionist was that Straka was at WBS.
Aha Straka!
Ends
Mention the name Pamela Otti and only a few people will know who you are talking about. But mention Straka Mwezi and almost everyone who watches TV in Uganda would know the person.
That is what I found out when I set out to understand who Straka is. For days I called and set up appointments which always aborted. Then I tried the other way - of tracing where she came from.
Straka Mwezi real name Pamela Otti, 27, started working as a waitress in late 1990s at New Life Bar, Nakulabye. She later went to DV8, a bar and restaurant on Wilson Road in Kampala where she was working as Karaoke emcee.
In 1999 she joined Colline Sserubiri and Fred Ssegawa who were emcees at Sabrinas Pub and started working with them. She joined WBS in the year 2001 to co-host the African Rhythms with Charles Oimuke and their show became so popular.
When Club Silk started Street Jam, she became the first emcee to preside over the event. She has since become synonymous with such big concerts. Recently when Beat FM opened, she was given a job as a presenter. At Beat FM, she presents the morning show with Moses Katongole and Davis Wills Ssekiranda.
Straka has found a place in the heart of young Ugandans who love music. Some call her during her live programme on WBS. Her “Rate show†as she pronounces it commands a lot of popularity and so does Straka herself.
She attracts attention at concerts mainly because of her fashion statements and hairstyles.
I tried to find her stylist but I found that she does not stick to anyone in particular.
Straka likes to add the word baby to her stage name and wears a fiery hairstyle all the time.
Her natural charm and flamboyance now make people of all walks of life yearn to have contact with the girl they watch every Thursday night on TV from 11:00pm till late.
This new-found fame propelled Straka from her muzigo in Kanyanya to I will not tell lest she gets bombarded.
Late last year, she bought her first car and since then she has driven a Toyota Kabina, a Mark II and today she cruises in a blue short-chassis Pajero.
Straka has created not just a cult following around her, but also fear. Call up artistes she associates with and ask them about her and all you will get is dead silence. The best will tell you that: “I fear Staka!†Is it because her WBS Late Show wields a lot of influence in the artiste’s world? Or it is just the respect!
Straka is said to have gone to St.Josephs, Nagalama in 1995 and left in 1996 when was in senior two. She then joined City High School but did not complete ‘O’ level there.
She has a baby boy with Charles Oimuke, her former workmate, who is currently on kyeyo in UK.
Straka is described as someone who never becomes angry however much you talk ill of her.
To journalists, she is very slippery. If she says yes to an interview, it is likely to be no. Though brave on the screen, she has a phobia for journalists. The three days I was on her case, she abandoned her Pajero at Capital FM for two hours and finally used a back door to escape. The next thing I got from the receptionist was that Straka was at WBS.
Aha Straka!
Ends