Tems recently shared her harrowing experience in Uganda, where she was arrested and confined to a small prison room. During an interview with Angie Martinez, she recounted her ordeal. She initially thought it was a joke when she was picked up from her hotel, but the reality sank in when she was handed a filthy and stinky prison uniform. She feared she might not make it out.
Tems described her prison cell as tiny, with only a floor, blankets, and some tissues. She spent two long days in there, completely cut off from the outside world, with no information about her fate. She even thought she might have a purpose in helping people while in prison.
When she received her foul-smelling uniform, she couldn’t hold back tears. Despite her hope, she didn’t know when or if she would be released. She bonded with other women in the prison, many of whom were held for trivial reasons, some due to corruption involving prison guards.
“I thought I wasn’t gonna come out. I thought I was seeing it for a reason like maybe I was meant to help the people. I was settling in because I adapted real quick and as I was walking in I started to cry because they gave me my uniform and it stunk because they don’t wash it. It was a small room and there was nothing, there’s just the floor they give you blankets and tissues and you’re just on the floor, no bed and I did it for two days. I didn’t even know I was going to get out, I didn’t have any ears on the ground nobody told me anything. Outside everyone was like ‘free Tems, free Omah lay but inside I was just hopeful, waiting.”
Tems mentioned that the women’s prison had strict rules, including the requirement to kneel when speaking to officials and receiving food only once a day. She chose to survive on water, not eating any food during her time there.
This ordeal occurred after a concert in Uganda on December 12, 2020, where Tems and another artist were charged with violating COVID-19 guidelines. Riley’s Entertainment news provides a detailed account of this distressing experience.