By Yasiri J. Kasango
Acting, health care and writing are Stella Mirembe’s passions. However, among the three, Mirembe would prefer she is not asked where her love is. She does not know. 

During her secondary school, Mirembe spent time fine-tuning her acting skills. After the six years of acting in secondary school, it was writing that earned Mirembe her first ever payment in life. Writing also brought her international recognition. 

While in Senior Six long holidays, Mirembe was writing articles for Upwork, a web-based platform that was linking her to people who wanted writers. 

However, when university studies came calling, she put writing on hold. She hopes to resurrect her writing passion later. In 2018, Mirembe joined Uganda Christian University to study towards a Bachelor of Public Health. She says her course in public health will help her engage different communities on good health practices as well as help her write better health-related articles. 

It was Mirembe’s late father who first saw her potential in acting. While in Senior Two, Elias Kyewalabye encouraged his daughter to act a play off the famous book, Betrayal in the City, by Kenyan playwright Francis Imbuga. He was impressed by Mirembe’s performance and encouraged her not to drop her passion. Kyewalabye has since passed on, and Mirembe is working hard to achieve the dreams of her father.

She currently graces the TV screens as an actress in a Ugandan series, Prestige, which airs on DStv’s Pearl Magic Prime.  The channel is dedicated to Ugandan local content. 

As a child, Miremebe used to act in Sunday school plays. She attended Uganda’s Gayaza High School and, later, Makerere College School for her A’level. Even while in secondary school, acting was part of Mirembe’s life.

“In Gayaza High School, I acted in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” she says. 

Internationally, Mirembe is a great admirer of Jennifer Aniston, an American actress, producer and businesswoman. 

The outbreak of Covid-19 and the subsequent closure of schools forced Mirembe to go back into acting. In August 2020, she exploited the chance of carrying on her dream. Her mother, Dr. Elizabeth Kyewalabye, encouraged her to audition for the Prestige series when calls were put out. And she was successful. She says acting helped to relieve her of some of the stress occasioned by the lockdown in 2020.

When the government announced the reopening of schools, Mirembe was excited to return for face-to-face classes so she fulfils her dream of becoming a health worker, so she is able to help communities around her to exercise better health practices. 

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