Natasha Sinayobye Talks Fashion, Being Fearless, and The Perks of Being a Farmer

She has been making headlines for almost two decades, thanks to her enviable beauty and super chic personal style, but we barely know her. Natasha Sinayobye opens up about her very private life in the limelight, why her beauty is such a pain and how farming saved her life.

We tend to act differently when we are unaware that we are being watched, and so, I stalk Natasha Sinayobye.

She is doing a fitting for a shoot to accompany this story at Iconic UG, located at Senana Shopping Centre. For those who haven’t been to this flashy fashion store, it is a well-lit space with an open floor plan that is interrupted by a pillar in the middle that serves as the dressing room. The rows and racks of clothes serve as good enough hiding spots for someone who is doing what I was doing. There are poufs scattered about, perhaps to relieve tired shoppers? More likely to help those trying on shoes. Of course lots of mirrors and the most smiley staff I have seen in a clothes shop in ages, especially here in Kampala.

I sit on one of those poufs and from there I can see her checking out a striped piece of clothing. From that angle, I can’t quite make out whether it is a dress or skirt, but she holds it against her frame as she twirls this way and that in front of the mirror. Standing barefoot, dressed in a fitting light blue denim jumpsuit, she looks shorter than I had assumed. I sneakily watch her interaction with the stylists and assistants to see if her demeanor will be the same once the interview begins. Will she be nicer because she knows she is being recorded? She is after all a skilled subject, appearing to let her interviewers in while maintaining her privacy. Letting the public in but only so.

The stalking reveals that she is at ease with herself and comfortably owns the space she is in. As a result, she puts the people around her at ease as well. This extends to the waiter in the restaurant where we sit to have our chat. For this, she changes into a red midi lace dress with a wide sleeved print coat over it and a pair of heeled clear Perspex slides. That, her trademark short hair and not a speck of makeup, complete the look.

Sinayobye has been interviewed so many times that she can hardly count. Her career as a dancer, choreographer, model, actress and stint as a musician has been chronicled since 2001 when she made her public debut. Despite that, she doesn’t get tired of being asked the same questions. She says, “Each time I’m asked about the same thing, my perspective has changed. I see things differently now that I’m older.” That might well be the case; but I suspect part of it is a tactic she uses to guard her privacy. Something she does sweetly and yet so fiercely. Along the conversation she will tell me; “and you can be assertive without being defensive.” 

One of the things she has been asked about repeatedly being her looks. How has she maintained her youthful look? How did it feel to win the Miss MTN Uganda crown in 2001? How does it feel to be on several lists of ‘Most Beautiful Ugandan women’?

Unironically, because of this beauty, many people underestimate her, taking her for just a pretty face. “Ya, ya that has happened, not once, not twice. It comes so naturally for certain people. When they look at some women, they just conclude, oh you’re blonde. I have had apologies before- someone has had to say I didn’t expect you to be this person”.

Her beauty might cause people to pause but she is unphased by it. Case in point; I receive a text from a friend saying I have been spotted in a restaurant seated with the most beautiful woman in Uganda, a goddess. When I show her the message she brushes it off as one would a casual comment about the weather. She credits her parents for this outlook.

“I thank my parents so so much for this. My parents have always been very…you see when your dad tells you you’re beautiful every day, you get used to it. It doesn’t become a handicap to you. When you dress up and your mum says; you’re so smart, you’re so beautiful…” She trails off. “So when someone else says it, there’s no reason that it should affect me in anyway, or any reason it should go to my head. I believe everyone should encourage their kids and tell them all the time; ‘you look beautiful’, ‘you are beautiful’ all the time. You are the one person they trust at that age. So you should tell them.” Now she starts to reveal a side of her most interviews I watched and read in prep for this did not show; a depth of character that sits well with her upbeat persona.

Before her beauty made her known to us, Sinayobye had a different plan for her life. She wanted to be a doctor; a journey that took a detour when she had her son. When she talks about him, she gets a bit serious. “My parents were very supportive. I could still have chased that dream but I did not want to burden them, it was my responsibility and I had to take it on.” And she has worked hard at shouldering that responsibility.

As we move into work territory, she becomes fully animated. If we were in a board room, this would be the time she would pull her chair in, elbows on the table; particularly when the topic of women and money comes up. We observe that there is a class of young women who work hard for their money, but there is still a section that wants to just be taken care of and treated as they ‘deserve’. At this, her face changes, a slight tightening. She is passionate about this.

“I’m going to use a word that most people don’t use in interviews-that is stupid. That’s very very stupid. You see, ‘taking care of you’ doesn’t mean you do not work for yourself. Yes I believe every woman deserves to be taken care of but the issue is you saying that you want the other person to take care of you 100%. You’re just waiting…you’re like a hole just waiting for someone to throw stuff inside it and that’s not how life is. When someone knows they have this power over you, they will do anything, say anything to you. Then later you will say you feel disrespected. But you fuel the disrespect by not doing anything for yourself. Even if you do something that brings you 500shs per day, do it. If there’s one thing I’d advise young girls [on this.] Trust me money is sweet, money is sweet. In this generation we live in, you want to buy this, you want to have this, you want to do this. But money is sweeter when it’s made by you.”

She should know, she has been earning money for a while now. Her first job, before she got into modelling was selling phones in Kampala’s city center. An elder cousin was on hand to supervise.

“I have really worked, this is why people sometimes say ‘I think that chic is like 50 years old.’ It’s just that you have seen me in the limelight and I’ve been hustling, been working from one job to another.” After a breath to take a sip of her coffee, she continues.

“You needed to have seen me on my first big paycheck. I was so excited. I went home, gave it to my mum and told her lets go to Shoprite and shop for the house.” A very responsible move given that it was 5million shillings.

“Earning that money gave me wings or horns or whatever you want to call it. And then I was like you know what, this is the feeling I want to get all the time. I always want to make my own money, I love the feeling. I could get someone to give me money, it would be so easy. But I love the hustle, I love the hustle I’m not going to lie. I love the challenge.”

Without knowing how long and hard she has been working…her current job; aside from modelling and 2 film projects in the works, will seem totally out of left field. Sinayobye is a farmer.

Not an arm chair, office farmer either. She is not dabbling. She has been doing this since 2012. “I had to get into the soil”. She says this while showing me her acrylics, barring them like claws. “The fact that people underestimated me, made me so aggressive.”

“It wasn’t like dancing which is mostly creative. Farming is very practical. You have to know what you’re doing. I went in green. I only knew how to grow tomatoes because my mum used to deal in them. I didn’t know things like; if you have planted your maize and the dudus (pests) attack one side, how do you prevent them from crossing to the other? Sooo many things that I had no idea about. Farming looks like the easiest thing to do but it’s so hard.”

This is partly because the challenges of farming are extreme.

“Of course I have bad seasons just like all the farmers in Uganda. It’s not like it only rains or shines on Tasha’s farm. No there’s no exception, it affects everyone and all of us. We all go through it. I went through a whole other thing and I almost gave up but I said NO, this is the plan. I farm maize and watermelon.” She doesn’t elaborate on that potentially derailing occurrence.

She continues with some advice on how she is making farming work for her. “You have to have a plan. Have the market from the beginning. I looked for people, looked for middle men, looked for everyone. Many young people under look farming-we live in a generation where we must look cool; farming is not Instagram cool. But you have to get down and dirty if you want to prosper. In the economy of Uganda, you can’t survive on one job. You have to do something. You have do somethings!”

But how come we have not seen a picture of her farm? How come she hasn’t posted anything on her social media? Herself in a chic overall? Come to think of it, where is the fodder of her personal life for the media to write about and analyze? There seems to be nothing. This is no accident.

“You decide to separate your life from your job. You don’t have to do things just because…just cos I’m a celeb, I must do things that celebs do. You forget that you are who you are not what you do. My name is Natasha Sinayobye, once in a while I’m a celebrity. It’s not my life. As much as the media can find you even if you have not called them, you pull them to you. You have to have a method to this chaos that is our world.”

Still, social media has given celebrities more power. They can be in charge of their narratives. She agrees but says. “But it still goes back to what content you are putting up. Why would you share your whole day on Snapchat? There is also a safety issue. You need to look at it from the other angle-don’t only look at the advantages. Yes you’re getting followers but among these followers, the ones you call ‘my followers’ who looks out for you? Most people just can’t wait to see you fail. When, when? When is she failing?” She puts her hands up, mimicking a begging gesture.

“I can never show my home. I do not post my child, no. You see this is my cross to bear (fame), not his. I do not post him. My whole family is away from the media.”

Scroll through her Instagram feed and aside from one post of her brother, the rest is pretty much her at work.

*

We inevitably shift to talking about women; another topic Sinayobye is openly passionate about. We agree that there is a shift in how women relate with each other; not so much ferocious competition as lifting each other up. This change is in no small part due to pop and western culture.

“I think it’s also because of these mantras that are getting used, ‘women supporting women’. And people are like you know what, let’s be those women.” A personal favourite is ‘There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women’- said by Madeline Albright, former US secretary of State.

“You understand!?” she agrees “And no one wants to go to hell.” She responds jokingly. She then insists on telling me about the fierce women she respects and admires; including renowned Ugandan designer, Fatumah Asha, who named a dress after her. “It’s even giving me goose bumps right now”, she says of the memory. “Anita Beryl, Sheebah Karungi – we talked about her plans when we were younger and she has surpassed all the goals she had set for herself. And of course my mum, hands down. Who I am is that woman, and by the way the reason I am, is she beat me, she had to set me on the right path. There are so many women I admire that I cannot name them all.”

What does she think of the sexist and ageist roadblocks surrounding women?

“The one mistake women make is underestimating their own power. Being a feminist means understanding your power as a woman and using it to your advantage. We can take over the world, I don’t even know how women don’t know this yet. No man will stand in front of you and challenge you.”

She is disturbed by the unfair criticism on women’s bodies and how they dress. She calls out those who make these comments for feeling morally superior.

She particularly addresses the idea that an outfit worn by a woman can be distracting for a man; take for instance those women who have chosen to #freethenipple. To their critics, she offers a counter “…maybe even he isn’t wearing boxers but I won’t be staring at his crotch. Just because he is shirtless I won’t be staring at his chest.” She is quick to add that wearing what you want goes hand in hand with being confident about your choice. In short, wear the mini dress if you are comfortable with it. “Be confident in your stance. Don’t criticize yourself.” Advise that we can all apply to other areas outside of our fashion choices.

We wind up when her photographer, Pamela Asiimwe of Mystique Photography comes to join her so they can set off for a photo-shoot. She introduces her and half-jokingly says ‘females supporting females’ before they leave.

The restaurant has filled up by now and there are a few stares. Because she is oblivious to them, so are we. Do I know her any better after more than an hour together? Yes, but only the areas she allowed to show. One thing though is clear; to talk to Natasha Sinayobye is to leave your preconceived notions behind. You don’t know her, not at all. But keep watching her, she’s just getting started.

Credits

Star: Natasha Sinayobye

Model: Stallone Lubwama

Story by Anna Kirya

Photographed by Fred Bugembe

Video by Gerald Ochieng

Styled by Solomon Tazibone of Kredibilty Styling

Makeup by Vanny Glam using Natna Lashes

Assisted by Asaph Murungi

Grooming by Breeze Serenity Salon N’ Spa

Natasha’s hair from Natna Natural Hair

Stockists: Iconic UG, Sham Tyra, Nalu Couture & Weren’t Born Rich

Editor: Lyn Atwiine

Creative Direction: Hassan & Banji

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