IS STUDIO 53'S GAETANO KAGWA REALLY HOT?

GAETANO KAGWA
Gaetano Kagwa is East Africa’s Reality TV chief, host, MC, actor, radio presenter and spokesman. This is the host of ‘TRAVEL MAGAZINE’ on M-NET with Rose Motene and early this year hosted the first ever East Africa Live reality TV-TUSKER PROJECT FAME. He survived death sometimes in 2005 and regularly visits the doc, but why? Showbiz writer George Otieno is on his trail.
‘ Kampala mugamba kyi. If you are tuned in, you’re listening to the morning show on CapitalFM with Me (Gaetano), Lilian Mbabazi (Blu*3) and as usual Oulanya Columbus. Everything is all right and the traffic along Kira road is stupid,’Gaetano jokes on air. This is the man who wakes Kampala each day he is in town as he flies a lot. Our interview is scheduled at CapitalFM’s studios in Kamokya. Gaetano is the man who once caused traffic in Kampala after the Big-brother three years ago and the one who openly told off the judges that the Project fame was a Kenyan affair and not East African as hyped.
Dressed in blue jeans, Rasta color Marvin and red top, Gaetano comes out as a serious man but is very humorous at heart. End of 2005 and early 2006 is fresh and lingers in his mind besides remaining his worst year. He almost never saw last year the dawn of last year, when he had a fatal problem with his kidneys and had to be rushed to Nairobi hospital for specialized treatment. ‘I almost went to meet my maker in December 2005. I had a serious Kidney failure that got me bedridden for a couple of days in Nairobi hospital at the ICU. Nowadays, I go for check-ups every year for Kidney and general health,’ he says. He has to go for check-ups to keep watch of his health status lest it put him down again. When the doctors gave him a clean bill of health and were discharged, Gaetano thanked God but is still scared and keeps eye on his body.
For the man who hosts the breakfast show in Kampala’s leading FM station, it’s a crazy schedule for him and not even his health would keep him off. ‘I wake up early enough and has to be on air by 6 am every morning. That is a duty I have to keep up with,’ he says. Gaetano also hosts travel magazine show at Studio 53 on M-Net in South Africa alongside hot Rosy Motene. ‘It’s a show that comes every Thursday and highlights what Africa has to offer. It’s a show for the Africa people that is about politics, entertainment and all the major activities that goes on around in the 53 countries,’ he adds. Recently, his latest assignment for Studio 53 was during the premier of ‘The Last King of Scotland’ where Hollywood and Oscar award winning actor Forest Whitaker was guest at Kampala’s Cineplex.
But he never took part in the award winning movie, a thing he says he just missed because of his busy schedule. ‘Acting is a thing I have admired a lot and would have loved to be part. I never knew of the auditions, I was interested in it. But again I’m a very busy person,’ he says. Altogether he thinks that the movie came out well and depicted how ‘Idi Amin’ was. Gaetano also fled Uganda because of the oppressive rule of the late former dictator and only came back few years ago to lead a quite. ‘I lived in Lesotho after I left Uganda in the 70’s during the Idi Amin reign and went to exile in Kenya. I went to school at Greenfield’s school. I’m not a spoilt boy by the way, my father struggled to put us through school,’ he says.
The established master of Ceremony of corporate functions has been emceeing events since he broke in to the limelight. He has a soft spot for kids and spends time with orphans. He visits schools to give inspirational talk. ‘I don’t think I’m a role model but I feel like I should inspire young people,’ he says.
Surprisingly, Gaetano strongly believes in nepotism. He has taken it to another level by fixing his young brother to be his cameraman in Uganda for his Studio 53 show. ‘My brother (Tendo Kagwa) is my cameraman who shoots for me events in Uganda. He’s a good cameraman and I also think it’s nice working with someone you know and you are comfortable with,’ he adds.
But does he still cause traffic they he used to after Big-brother?’No, I don’t but I still see a lot of traffic in this city. There are a lot of potholes everywhere in Kampala. But people still look at me and I have to use sunglasses. In the traffic people wave a lot and say hi. The day when I came back from South Africa it was crazy,’ he says.
Wait a minute; Gaetano closely resembles a certain male actor of South African soap ‘Generations’. Many have known, mistaken and continue to say that the two have a biological linkage. But Gaetano sets the record straight. ‘I’m not related to him. He might look like me but that doesn’t mean he is my brother,’ he asserts.
He pulled crowds and stole the show when he co-hosted the Tusker Project Fame last year. He amused many, charmed others while at it impressed viewers. But again he was at loggerheads with the judges. Whereas others felt he was entitled to his opinions, others felt he was just on their necks. Gaetano is on record to have openly dismissed the reality TV show as purely a Kenyan affair. His argument was crystal clear and it looked real as all the contestants from Uganda and Tanzania were evicted earlier. ‘ They were more Kenyan contestants than they were from any other country. This was a negative. The team, which you work with, is what makes things easier. The team was good and again they had their weaknesses. The judgment was again in their hands. It was a great show altogether,’ he says.
The Project Fame was his greatest show ever as it was broadcast live unlike the Studio 53 Travel magazine which he has to pre-record after every three weeks. He rates the Project fame as 80% good and says because Ugandans didn’t win. ‘I give it 8/10 because Ugandans didn’t win and they never allowed me to sing,’ he says. Ian Mbugua one of the controversial judges at the show never seemed to get along with the reality TV show host. Most of the time, they agreed to disagree. ‘Ian was very outspoken and vocal negatively and struck accord with them. He made the show interesting. But I think down deep, deep inside him, he had a heart,’ he adds while laughing.
Whether on radio or TV, Gaetano says he’s the same only that the physical presentation differs. ‘In TV it’s picturesque, descent dress-code, body motion, eye contact with camera, you have to be witty, humorous, sensitive and non-biased. While the opposite is radio,’ he equips. He admits he enjoys his job because he has fun when doing it.
This was a man who quit high school when his father was financially bogged down and relocated to Southern Africa. ‘I finished my high school in Lesotho then moved to university in the US where I did a degree in Political Science and a minor in International studies, perhaps with ambitions to bring sanity in the political structure of coup infested Uganda,’ he recalls. He came back to Uganda in September 2000 and joined Makerere University because he was tired of studying away from home. ‘I supposed to go to Cape Town university as I had saved some money. Then I flew back to Kampala. By the way I lived in the dorms,’ he says.
His cousin who was drunk advised him to join Big-brother auditions. ‘It was joke and we never knew what it was all about it. I went for it without any expectations of making it. It was just for fun. The next thing I was selected and I quit campus where I was doing my law degree,’ he says. Gaetano believes that going to school is basically to learn how to survive and to get social skills. ‘It’s all opportunity cost. I go back to school today people forget everything about me. Maybe I even fail. It’s better to run with all these things when they’re hot. I cant risk,’ he says.
Big brother is what opened his eye and brought all the fame, success and all the opportunities he has in life. It changed him as immediately he was evicted from the house he landed a job with CapitalFM, then STUDIO 53, then he became spokesman for Crane Bank and again he started getting Master of ceremony jobs as well.
He manages himself. ‘Managers help you get all these things but they are never professional. I like to be accountable when things get wrong; I know it’s me. They have a lot of setbacks,’ he says. Gaetano admits that he has worked hard enough to be where he is today. ‘I have put a lot of effort and sacrifice but again with the support of my colleagues, I have managed to be where I am,’ he says.
What about Abby Samantar, his ex-love with who they were the most talked about during and after the reality show? ‘Can’t people leave Abby alone,’ he equips. But he says Abby came to his life four years ago during the Big brother. She describes her as smart, carefree, funny, loud, beautiful and lively. He says she had everything a man would go weak for. Although he speaks with much gusto, signs that his love for Abby is still present are evident. He seems unaware of her marriage as he says ‘I hear she is married she has a child. He swears that if he could change a thing about the whole thing he would do it. He insists that he missed the wedding and was not jealousy. Given a chance in Abby’s life, Gaetano would definitely go for it. ‘I definitely enjoyed it and if I was to do it all over again I would not change a thing,’ he says it with passion.
Most housemates during the Big-brother Africa have gone through heartbreaks; talk-about Cherise, Mwisho, Alex Holi and Uganda’s very own Gaetano. Was it coincidental or just a natural phenomenon that befell them? Gaetano believes heartbreaks are something normal and can happen to anybody and being a star does not make one exceptional. ‘People seem to forget that we’re also human beings. We’re not different from those people in the streets. It’s simply because our lives are in limelight,’ he clarifies.
He has moved on though and is seeing an out-of showbiz girl. But he is afraid to disclose her newfound love but says she’s a great girl. ‘She’s a journalist; she’s Ugandan and has time for me. We’re learning a lot together. If it ends in matrimony so be it, if doesn’t then bad for us. So far so good,’ he says.
Business is also his other venture. Gaetano owns and manages Kampala’s Zone 7 bar. ‘Zone 7 is my investment. It’s a mini-bar, which is one year old. It’s located in zone seven of Kampala,’ he says. He believes that by drinking in his own bar he is saving his money. He has also appeared on adverts like Telechoice and Crane Bank. In Crane bank he also doubles us the bank’s spokesman.
But the man who enjoys loud music in his white Honda car insists that he is a laid back person. ‘My car has to have loud music. That’s a must,’ he insists.
Loosing his mother in 2000 remains his worst experience. ‘I really miss her and I know she’s looking at me and what I’m doing,’ he recalls. While Big brother remains his career highlight. ‘It will always be a defining moment of my life. We traveled a lotto Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Zambia, Nigeria, Kenya and all where the housemates were,’ he recalls. But Gaetano is the only one who has gone to all the Big-brother houses. ‘I got to the Big-brother UK, mess around, kiss the girls, run away. It was great. Then I got to the Big-brother Nigeria and it was great. I would insist that the next one that happens there, I have to be there,’ he says.
His character towards ladies has made many brand him a playboy. ‘People think I have many girlfriends. It’s not true but again I think they just like me. Girls have done embarrassing things to get my attention, he says, like one showed me her cleavage that was voluptuous and my eyes got wet. We talked, took photographs but I have never seen her again.
His future his says he will be doing what he’s doing and taking it to another level. ‘I’m not getting younger and I’m in my thirties now. If any business ventures comes my way, I will go for it,’ he says.

FACTFILE
Born 35 years ago at Mulago Hospital-Kampala-Uganda. Son of Mr. John and Mrs. Jane Kagwa. Returned to Uganda in 2000 and joined Makerere University to do Law.

Education- 1993-1997 pursued a degree in Political Science (University of Wisconsin La-Crosse USA)
2000-2003-Studied Law at Makerere University but put it on hold because of Big –brother Africa in 2003.

Career-Spokesperson Crane Bank Uganda in 2004,MC for Uganda Fashion Week from 2004 to 2006. Co-host of the Big-Breakfast on 91.3 Capital FM. Co-Host OF studio 53 and Co-hosted East Africa’s Tusker Project Fame.

Dislikes- Slow drivers and dishonest people not forgetting pretenders. Messy kitchens, living and bathrooms are also on his dislike list. Never touch his head.

Likes- Humour and traveling.

Worst moment-When he was bedridden at Nairobi hospital for kidney failure.

Best moment- When he was selected as representative of Big-Brother Africa to represent Uganda.