Tems has reflected on the period when she found herself detained in Uganda for two days. The singer, along with Omah Lay and Donawon, was apprehended while they were in Uganda to perform shortly after the COVID-19 curfew had been lifted in the country.
During an interview with radio show host Angie Martinez, Tems clarified that they hadn’t actually violated any regulations, but rather, their arrest was orchestrated by a local artist who had threatened to take action against them.
She explained that the show’s organizers claimed to have a permit for the event, and people were already attending because the COVID-19 restrictions had been lifted. However, after the performance, Tems recounted that she and her manager were having lunch in her hotel room when they were apprehended by Ugandan police.
The Nigerian singer disclosed that she spent two nights in prison, and during that time, she feared that she might not be released because she had no phone and no means to communicate with the outside world to learn about the efforts being made for their release. She began to accept her situation and believed that perhaps there was a greater purpose for her being there.
Tems said, “I thought I wasn’t gonna come out. I thought I was seeing it for a reason like maybe I was meant to help the people. I was settling in because I adapted real quick and as I was walking in I started to cry because they gave me my uniform and it stunk because they don’t wash it. It was a small room and there was nothing, there’s just the floor they give you blankets and tissues and you’re just on the floor, no bed and I did it for two days. I didn’t even know I was going to get out, I didn’t have any ears on the ground nobody told me anything. Outside everyone was like ‘free Tems, free Omah lay’ but inside I was just hopeful, waiting.”
Tems revealed that the women she formed connections with within the prison had been incarcerated for seemingly minor reasons, including some who had been locked up by their own husbands. She also noted that, shockingly, some of these women were in jail with their children.
She said to Martinez:
“Once I walked in everyone turned and looked at me and whispering and I was like ‘what have I done? I can’t cry’ and I just started winking, that was my way of adapting. I must show these people that I’m confident so I started being extra winking and saying hi and they were laughing.”
On the night of December 12, 2020, Omah Lay and Tems performed at The Big Brunch, which was held at Speke Resort, Wavamunno Road, Kampala, Uganda. After their performance, they were charged to court by the Uganda police for flouting COVID-19 guidelines after lockdown.
