In her two-decade singing career, Juliana Kanyomozi has had to maneuver different challenges including having a stalker who was proving a physical threat, arrested.
For someone like Juliana who is by far the most private and scarce of all Ugandan celebrities, one would think she has created a thick buffer to protect her from strangers, let alone stalkers.
Turns out, not quite.
Juliana revealed that she has had experiences with stalkers some of whom were constantly watching her and knew whatever was happening in her life.
She was responding to a question about whether or not she returns missed calls from people that might not necessarily be fellow celebrities.
“Yes I return the call. Because I believe that everyone, whether they are of higher social class or not, is of certain importance to you. You know a cleaner can teach you something you had no clue about? Except if the missed call is from somebody that has been bugging me. We call them stalkers. With the exception of those, I respect everyone who calls me,” Juliana said in an interview with Ibra K Mukasa.
She went on to narrate her experience with stalkers.
“I have about two experiences that involved stalkers. But I don’t know where they got my number.”
She says, at the time she lived in Ntinda, a stalker knew her home.
Another stalker knew Juliana’s daily schedule so much that he would wait for her at Kisementi where she bought her groceries at the time.
“He would come and wait for me to come out of my car,” Juliana shared.
She says this particular stalker was so possessed by a love fantasy, that he got violent which forced her to have him arrested.
“He approached me while I was at Kisementi, and he started to shout at me rudely. He said ‘I want to speak to you’. I told him ‘Who are you?’. He replied ‘Don’t talk back at me, I said I want to talk to you’. I thought the man was mad,” she said.
Sensing there was a problem, she entered her car.
He (stalker) then picked up a block and attempted to hurl it at her car. To Juliana’s luck, there were onlookers who knew her. They rushed in and restrained the man.
“We took him to the Police station. On checking him, his wallet was filled with my photos. When he was questioned, he told the investigators that I was his wife.”
“Stalkers have issues. Which is why they are dangerous. Therefore, if they start following you around, it is important that you notify the authorities.”
That’s not all. The list of the people who have stalked the Nabikoowa singer include a woman.
“There’s a time I moved house and she called telling me… ‘You shifted and didn’t tell me. I will find you’. More like the stuff we watch in movies,” she said.
According to her, stalking is a mental problem that can only be treated medically.
“In their mind, you are their best friend. It’s a mental problem. It needs treatment. That’s why they are dangerous. Their head tells them something else that’s far from reality.”
The singer and mother also touched on the broader issue of privacy and questions around keeping the identity of her two-year-old son away from the public. She wonders why Ugandans still expect her to explain why she lives a private life yet this is how she has branded herself her entire career.
“It was a decision I made – not to reveal I was pregnant. I chose to keep that beautiful moment to myself. So, when I gave birth, I felt I needed to protect my child. I couldn’t understand why people were so angry at the fact that I wasn’t revealing my child. It’s my child. I’ve never asked to know their children.”
“But you will see him (her son, Taj). Soon, he will start going to school. I’m not saying go stalk him at the school he will be attending, but you will know him at the right time.”
