Amanda, the man who heads Kampala’s latest lewd dancers
Apr 24, 2003
Good Friday turned out to be a Bad Friday for the Amanda Moonlight Angels. The sleazy dance troupe had become popular for the wrong reasons. The six girls with their leader Amanda Shaban have been ‘terrorising’ men in the city suburbs
By Denis Jjuuko
Good Friday turned out to be a Bad Friday for the Amanda Moonlight Angels. The sleazy dance troupe had become popular for the wrong reasons. The six girls with their leader Amanda Shaban have been ‘terrorising’ especially men in different bars in the city suburbs.
They performed every Tuesday at Mambo Bado in Mengo, every Wednesday at ShallowEnd in Ntinda and every Thursday at Hunter’s Pub in Kansanga. The group had boys as well.
What they did was more than a strip dance. The girls would indulge in oral sex, live on stage. And I emphasise, oral sex! The Amanda Moonlight Angels was formed in March 2003 in the wake of Roger Mugisha’s tête-à -tête with God. It looks like they came up to fill the gap left by the Shadow’s Angels. However, sleazy as they were, the Shadow’s Angels were dancers. Those girls never stooped as low as these ones.
These sex maniacs (and that is an understatement) were rounded up by police as they went through some of their weird antics on Good Friday at Kampala’s central bar, Rock Gardens.
This was their debut performance here. Aruu MP Ondongo Otto tipped off Major Gen. Katumba Wamala’s boys. But as people celebrate the removal of these degenerates from our midst, many are wondering who this Amanda Shaban is.
Well, his/her life is a mystery to those who know him/her. One thing for sure, nobody seems to know whether Amanda is a man or a woman. However, Amanda confesses to being a man who dresses like a woman to earn a living.
“I dress like this to make money not to con people. I am a man,†he/she told The New Vision on Wednesday morning from one of the men’s cells at Buganda Road Chief Magistrate’s court.
Amanda, whose skin is clearly over- bleached says he has only one real name Shaban and “Amanda†is a stage name. He says he grew up in Bombo where he was once a hairdresser.
His bosom has no breasts, he does not wear make up, he is skinny and looks every inch a man. He talks in a low tone with a feminine voice. His braided hair is tied up back in a ponytail.
Amanda started performing when he/she joined the popular KADS Band. “He is a great performer. He became popular with us,†a member of the band who preffered anonymity says. “I must tell you one thing for sure. Amanda is a man. Trust me, Amanda is a man.â€
The KADS source says: “This guy is so weird. He thinks he is a lady and would like to be treated so,†the member says.
“One Saturday as we performed at Little Flowers, Amanda entered the ladies’ room. The toilets were labelled. Even the female group members were perturbed by this.â€
He says they were all shocked by Amanda’s feminine voice, girlish gait, and accent. “You could hear patrons arguing whether Amanda was a man or a woman. Some would come under the guise of giving him money, just to look at him,†he says. The member says Amanda used to introduce himself as ‘Lady Amanda.’ Upclose, Amanda possesses masculine features. His body is as hairy as that of a man. His thighs are muscular.
Amanda, a transvestite, as people who cross dress like him are called, has conflicting stories about his family and is uncomfortable with questions about them. “You will have a hearty conversation with him but about his family, he gives very little,†the KADS member says.
Amanda told The New Vision that his mother, Mwajjuma Abdallah, a Congolese dancer, died in early 2002. He spoke with sorrow and seemed very uncomfortable. But the people in KADS Band know a different story. “He told us his mother is a Munyoro.â€
He also told them that he spent some time in DR Congo as a dancer. “He told us he started cross-dressing in DR Congo while he was employed by Congolese singer Thsalla Mwana, with whom he went on national tour,†the source says.
Amanda even showed one of his former workmates his Thsalla Mwana costumes. “I believed him. They were expensive. I know how much costumes cost. They’re expensive and he didn’t have just one.â€
But when the New Vision asks Amanda about his days with Mwana, he looks puzzled, probably wondering how we got to know this. He then asks what I mean by “Congo†and pretends that he has never heard of Tshalla Mwana.
Amanda says he has a girlfriend called Sheila who has an eight-year-old daughter called Sheba from a previous relationship, but KADS members doubt it.
“For the nine months he spent in the band, he neither talked about Sheila nor Sheba. However, when he had just joined, there was a guy who was so close to him you could think they were lovers,†the source says.
Pressed for facts, Amanda changes his story. He insists that the relationship with Sheila existed all right, but says they broke up after a while. “I have a new girlfriend now. She is called Rita Nantege and Sheba is with my mother’s sister in Bombo,†he answers, avoiding direct eye contact with this writer.
The girls who performed with him say he would cover his bosom while changing, like ladies do.
Amanda claims to have studied up to secondary school level at Bombo SSS but his ex-fellow bandmates still doubt.
“He can’t construct a sentence in English. If he studied up to that level, then the schools he went to need special prayers,†one says.
Though we greeted each other in English, Amanda preferred the interview in Luganda.
Like a woman, Amanda shies away from telling his age. However, It is believed he could be in his late twenties.
KADS Band members say Amanda was fired from the band in September last year because he had started isolating himself and, “he couldn’t adhere to our boss’s rules. He wanted to be treated in a special way. He has a very big ego problem,†a source says.
But Amanda will not divulge any details on circumstances under which he left KADS.
He says he does not make a lot of money because the dance troupe had just been set up. “At times, they give us only transport fare. On other days, we get sh25,000 and there is nothing you can do with that,†he says.
“So why are you performing then?†I ask. “We wanted to first become popular. Most of our performances were just test shows. I wasn’t even given money by Rock Gardens,†he answers.
Where do you get the money to buy these costumes? “I got money from KADS and I bought most of them while still there,†he shoots back. “But it took me long to start the group. I used to perform alone even in Mbale.â€
He says most of the girls (angels) approached him for employment. The girls, however, refused to talk, referring me to their boss.
They were not scared and looked prepared for the outcome.
But the interview with Amanda is cut short. Suddenly, he gets annoyed and asks us how he is to benefit. He runs off to the extreme end of the cell.
Good Friday turned out to be a Bad Friday for the Amanda Moonlight Angels. The sleazy dance troupe had become popular for the wrong reasons. The six girls with their leader Amanda Shaban have been ‘terrorising’ especially men in different bars in the city suburbs.
They performed every Tuesday at Mambo Bado in Mengo, every Wednesday at ShallowEnd in Ntinda and every Thursday at Hunter’s Pub in Kansanga. The group had boys as well.
What they did was more than a strip dance. The girls would indulge in oral sex, live on stage. And I emphasise, oral sex! The Amanda Moonlight Angels was formed in March 2003 in the wake of Roger Mugisha’s tête-à -tête with God. It looks like they came up to fill the gap left by the Shadow’s Angels. However, sleazy as they were, the Shadow’s Angels were dancers. Those girls never stooped as low as these ones.
These sex maniacs (and that is an understatement) were rounded up by police as they went through some of their weird antics on Good Friday at Kampala’s central bar, Rock Gardens.
This was their debut performance here. Aruu MP Ondongo Otto tipped off Major Gen. Katumba Wamala’s boys. But as people celebrate the removal of these degenerates from our midst, many are wondering who this Amanda Shaban is.
Well, his/her life is a mystery to those who know him/her. One thing for sure, nobody seems to know whether Amanda is a man or a woman. However, Amanda confesses to being a man who dresses like a woman to earn a living.
“I dress like this to make money not to con people. I am a man,†he/she told The New Vision on Wednesday morning from one of the men’s cells at Buganda Road Chief Magistrate’s court.
Amanda, whose skin is clearly over- bleached says he has only one real name Shaban and “Amanda†is a stage name. He says he grew up in Bombo where he was once a hairdresser.
His bosom has no breasts, he does not wear make up, he is skinny and looks every inch a man. He talks in a low tone with a feminine voice. His braided hair is tied up back in a ponytail.
Amanda started performing when he/she joined the popular KADS Band. “He is a great performer. He became popular with us,†a member of the band who preffered anonymity says. “I must tell you one thing for sure. Amanda is a man. Trust me, Amanda is a man.â€
The KADS source says: “This guy is so weird. He thinks he is a lady and would like to be treated so,†the member says.
“One Saturday as we performed at Little Flowers, Amanda entered the ladies’ room. The toilets were labelled. Even the female group members were perturbed by this.â€
He says they were all shocked by Amanda’s feminine voice, girlish gait, and accent. “You could hear patrons arguing whether Amanda was a man or a woman. Some would come under the guise of giving him money, just to look at him,†he says. The member says Amanda used to introduce himself as ‘Lady Amanda.’ Upclose, Amanda possesses masculine features. His body is as hairy as that of a man. His thighs are muscular.
Amanda, a transvestite, as people who cross dress like him are called, has conflicting stories about his family and is uncomfortable with questions about them. “You will have a hearty conversation with him but about his family, he gives very little,†the KADS member says.
Amanda told The New Vision that his mother, Mwajjuma Abdallah, a Congolese dancer, died in early 2002. He spoke with sorrow and seemed very uncomfortable. But the people in KADS Band know a different story. “He told us his mother is a Munyoro.â€
He also told them that he spent some time in DR Congo as a dancer. “He told us he started cross-dressing in DR Congo while he was employed by Congolese singer Thsalla Mwana, with whom he went on national tour,†the source says.
Amanda even showed one of his former workmates his Thsalla Mwana costumes. “I believed him. They were expensive. I know how much costumes cost. They’re expensive and he didn’t have just one.â€
But when the New Vision asks Amanda about his days with Mwana, he looks puzzled, probably wondering how we got to know this. He then asks what I mean by “Congo†and pretends that he has never heard of Tshalla Mwana.
Amanda says he has a girlfriend called Sheila who has an eight-year-old daughter called Sheba from a previous relationship, but KADS members doubt it.
“For the nine months he spent in the band, he neither talked about Sheila nor Sheba. However, when he had just joined, there was a guy who was so close to him you could think they were lovers,†the source says.
Pressed for facts, Amanda changes his story. He insists that the relationship with Sheila existed all right, but says they broke up after a while. “I have a new girlfriend now. She is called Rita Nantege and Sheba is with my mother’s sister in Bombo,†he answers, avoiding direct eye contact with this writer.
The girls who performed with him say he would cover his bosom while changing, like ladies do.
Amanda claims to have studied up to secondary school level at Bombo SSS but his ex-fellow bandmates still doubt.
“He can’t construct a sentence in English. If he studied up to that level, then the schools he went to need special prayers,†one says.
Though we greeted each other in English, Amanda preferred the interview in Luganda.
Like a woman, Amanda shies away from telling his age. However, It is believed he could be in his late twenties.
KADS Band members say Amanda was fired from the band in September last year because he had started isolating himself and, “he couldn’t adhere to our boss’s rules. He wanted to be treated in a special way. He has a very big ego problem,†a source says.
But Amanda will not divulge any details on circumstances under which he left KADS.
He says he does not make a lot of money because the dance troupe had just been set up. “At times, they give us only transport fare. On other days, we get sh25,000 and there is nothing you can do with that,†he says.
“So why are you performing then?†I ask. “We wanted to first become popular. Most of our performances were just test shows. I wasn’t even given money by Rock Gardens,†he answers.
Where do you get the money to buy these costumes? “I got money from KADS and I bought most of them while still there,†he shoots back. “But it took me long to start the group. I used to perform alone even in Mbale.â€
He says most of the girls (angels) approached him for employment. The girls, however, refused to talk, referring me to their boss.
They were not scared and looked prepared for the outcome.
But the interview with Amanda is cut short. Suddenly, he gets annoyed and asks us how he is to benefit. He runs off to the extreme end of the cell.