[VIDEO] Uganda Arrests Pop Star For "Porn" Musical Video

Bouncing and grinding, singer Jemimah Kansiime's music video was a hit among her Ugandan fans, but not for conservative politicians who say it broke a tough new anti-pornography law.

The 21-year old singer, who uses the stage name Panadol wa Basajja - literally, Medicine for Men - has already spent five weeks in jail after her arrest for a music video that gives a lingering and generous focus on wet and soapy buttocks.

Now she faces up to 10 years in jail, if found guilty in the first full trial under the law - which took effect in February 2014 - that critics such as Human Rights Watch argue so loosely defines pornography it has encouraged public attacks on women wearing skimpy clothing.

Critics say it is part of a growing anti-liberal movement including tough laws against homosexuals in Uganda, where religious-driven conservatism appears to be on the rise and where US evangelical preachers rather than pop stars like Kansiime often receive rock star welcomes.

"I was aware that there are some sections of society that are conservative", said the singer, smoothing her rainbow coloured hair extensions that always cover one eye.

But one thing she thought she had learnt from her idols - including Rihanna and Nicki Minaj - is that sex sells.

"I was just experimenting to see if I put on a short dress, will the audience like it?" said the singer.

She made the video that has placed her in hot water last year for her song Nkulinze - or "I am waiting for you" - about "a young lover's intimate fantasies".

It has proved popular, and the video has been watched over 140,000 times on YouTube. But Kansiime said she never dreamt that writhing in her underwear was breaking the law. She and her then manager Didi Muchwa Mugisha were arrested in November.

Mugisha pleaded guilty and was fined 200,000 Ugandan shillings ($75, €60), but Kansiime pleaded not guilty, and was held for five weeks before raising the cash bail.

"When I was making that video I never intended it for children, I intended it for adults. I did not sell or distribute the song", said Kansiime, wearing a short, leopard print dress with tiny straps, revealing a push up bra underneath.

"My rights have been trampled upon, my freedom of expression has been trampled upon", she told AFP in her simple tin-shack home in the capital Kampala.

See the video that lands her in trouble:

Mail & Guardian Africa

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