Anne Kansiim.
At 40, Anne Kansiime is still the same quick-witted comedian audiences fell in love with a decade or two ago. Only now, she says, she has come of age. She is not chasing the moment anymore. The stage may not see her as relentlessly as it once did, not because the jokes ran out, but because life got in the way. She has slowed down, but the humour remains sharp, and the money still follows her.
I grew up in a big family of five siblings and five cousins, whom we are no longer in touch with, because as you get older, life just happens to everybody.
Since Covid, I have slowed down. It did to me what it did to everyone. Also, motherhood had me slow down. Before I was a mother, all I cared about was me. When you become a mother, a lot changes. You are no longer the same person as you were before. Perspective changes, priorities change, and what I have learnt in this life, you have to be ready to accept the changes as they come.
I studied Social Sciences at the University, but never graduated because, while at the University, I got into radio drama, and started doing voice-overs, which opened the channel for my gigI was paid UGX1.5 million (Sh52,000). It was a lot of money back then. So I said to myself, the degree can wait, and I focused on making money. Now look at me, here we are.
Ugandan Anne Kansiime. FILE PHOTO |
Despite going slow on comedy, I am still winning. I have made a fortune over the years. I’m still winning, even though I am not as aggressive as I used to be back in the day. Now I do what I can. And I am at peace with that.
But the most satisfying thing for me is that I have changed people's lives. I have put food on the table for so many people.
When my mother fell sick, that was one of my lowest moments in life. I went broke. My bank accounts ran dry. I was spending UGX22 million (Sh760,000) per week on my mother's medical bills as she fought for her life in hospital.
At the same time, I was struggling to get pregnant without success. I had been trying for so long, and it wasn't happening. Those were difficult times for me.
My mother got depressed after watching how her sickness ran me into bankruptcy. You could see it in her eyes. She knew she wasn’t going to make it, and the thought that she would be leaving me poor hurt her.
She finally passed on in 2021, just around the same time I gave birth to my son. Shortly after, my father fell into depression following the passing of his wife and followed her not long after.
Their loss hurt me the most. I had always been a daddy’s girl. I loved my father. He made me feel safe. Showed me what true love means.
Ugandan comedian Anne Kansiime. PHOTO | NATION
But they left me with blessings. I rose again. Things have been working out so well for me. Everything I touched since their death turned into gold. I always feel like my prayers get answered so quickly since they died. It feels as if they intervene for me because if I’m being honest, I have been doing quite well both financially, physically, and mentally, so to speak.
The reason I built my resort (Kanssime Backpacker Resort) at the shores of the lake (Bunyonyi) is that I needed a place where I could escape. Actually, half the time I am there, the world doesn't know. Whenever I am there, we always say it's closed for renovation.
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