Songwriter Josephine Namagembe, popularly known as Shena Skies, has made a startling revelation that has reignited debate about how songwriters are treated in Uganda’s music industry.

During a recent interview, Shena disclosed that she was the songwriter behind ‘More Of This,’ the popular collaboration by Rema Namakula, Slick Stuart and DJ Roja, but received only Shs20,000, money she says was described as fuel facilitation.

“They only paid me Shs20,000 for fuel. Things are not as simple as they look,” Shena said, explaining that songwriting, despite its glamour on the surface, offers little financial security for many creatives behind the scenes.

She revealed that despite having written numerous songs, she barely sells one song a month, sometimes even going two months without a sale, making it difficult to sustain herself solely through songwriting.

“Right now, I do not sell many songs. I have written many songs, but you might find that I sell one song in a month or two. I cannot survive on that low pay,” she said.

Shena also took aim at what she described as misleading narratives pushed into the public eye by some artists, who claim they have paid writers generously.

“Artists come on TV saying they gave me Shs5 million, yet they didn’t give it to me in an actual sense. They paint an image in the media that I have a lot of money, yet they do not even pay me,” she said.

According to Shena, writers are often labelled as “expensive” in public, while in reality they are underpaid, with balances promised but rarely honoured.

“They claim I’m expensive, yet they pay me little money and keep promising to pay the balance,” she added. Perhaps most painful, she noted, is the lack of recognition that follows once a song becomes a success. “Even when you write a song and it becomes a mega hit, no artist will come back to thank you,” she said.

Despite the frustrations, Shena says her passion for music and belief in her God-given talent have kept her going. “I have a lot of music, and if I didn’t have that talent, I would have quit the industry long ago. But God gave me this talent to share it with others, that is why I do this,” she said.

Her revelations have once again thrown the spotlight on the struggles of songwriters, raising fresh questions about fair pay, recognition, and respect within Uganda’s creative industry.

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