Dr Stella Nyanzi is a Ugandan academic, poet, feminist, medical anthropologist and political activist known for her fearless criticism of the Ugandan government. She is one of the country’s most controversial and outspoken public intellectuals, particularly because of her provocative poems and strong opposition to President Yoweri Museveni.
Age and Date of birth
Stella Nyanzi is 52 years old and was born on 16th June, 1974, in Uganda.
Education
She attended Gayaza Junior School and Gayaza High School before joining Makerere University, where she studied Mass Communication and Literature. She later pursued postgraduate studies in medical anthropology at University College London and obtained a PhD in Social Anthropology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 2009.
Career
She is a medical anthropologist, researcher, writer, poet and human rights activist. Nyanzi worked with the Medical Research Council in Uganda and The Gambia before joining Makerere University, where she became a research fellow at the Makerere Institute of Social Research.
Poems and books.
Stella has composed a number of poems and one of her most recognisable approaches is called radical rudeness where she deliberately uses offensive, shocking or vulgar language to challenge authority and disrupt what she considers the culture of excessive politeness towards powerful people.
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One of the most controversial moments in Nyanzi’s writing career came in January 2017, when she published a poem referring to President Yoweri Museveni as a pair of buttocks.The poem followed disagreements over the government’s failure to fulfil a campaign promise to provide sanitary pads to schoolgirls.
Nyanzi criticised President Museveni and his wife, Janet Museveni, who was the Minister of Education, using extremely explicit language. Her writing attracted widespread attention and contributed to her arrest in April 2017. In September 2018, she published another controversial poem about the president, which resulted in another arrest.
Some of her recognised poetry works and projects include Exile, No Roses from My Mouth ( received the 2020 Oxfam Novib/PEN Award for Freedom of Expression), Don’t Come in My Mouth, Eulogies of My Mouth, Exiled for My Mouth, Im Mundexil. Her poetry has received international recognition, with literary festivals and human rights organisations inviting her to discuss the relationship between writing, political freedom and resistance.
Stella Nyanzi’s first arrest in 2017
In April 2017, Nyanzi was arrested over social media posts criticising President Museveni and his wife. The authorities accused her of cyber harassment and offensive communication. Her arrest generated international attention, with human rights organisations arguing that she was being punished for exercising her freedom of expression. She was released on bail in May 2017, although the legal battle continued.
Her second arrest and imprisonment
In November 2018, Nyanzi was arrested again after publishing another controversial poem about President Museveni. She was charged with cyber harassment and offensive communication again. In August 2019, she was sentenced to 18 months in prison for cyber harassment after being acquitted of the offensive communication charge. She spent approximately 16 months at Luzira Women’s Prison before the High Court overturned her conviction on February 20, 2020. This happened due to lawyer, Isaac Semakadde who appealed to the high court.
Stella’s political career
Nyanzi also entered elective politics and in the 2021 general elections, she contested for the Kampala District Woman Member of Parliament seat on the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) ticket but unfortunately did not win the election.
Husband and kids
Stella Nyanzi was previously married to a Gambian man called Ousman, also reported as Osman in some media accounts whom she met while working in The Gambia. Their relationship developed into marriage, which they celebrated in a Muslim mosque despite her Christian background.
The couple later moved to London, where they welcomed their first child, a daughter named Rehma. Stella subsequently became pregnant with twin boys. However, the marriage eventually ended after disagreements surrounding their relationship and her husband’s sexuality, according to Nyanzi’s own account in a media interview. She returned to Uganda and raised her three children, receiving support from her parents and other family members.
Stella Nyanzi finds love again
After many years of single motherhood, Nyanzi announced in August 2025 that she had found love again. She shared photographs with a new partner on social media, explaining that she wanted a relationship that was open rather than hidden.
Stella Nyanzi and Mahmood Mamdani
Professor Mahmood Mamdani is a prominent Ugandan academic, author and political scientist who previously served as executive director of the Makerere Institute of Social Research (MISR).
His name is sometimes mentioned alongside Stella Nyanzi because of their professional history at Makerere University.
Nyanzi worked as a research fellow at the Makerere Institute of Social Research, where Mamdani was an influential academic leader.
Their professional relationship became controversial following disagreements about working conditions, academic freedom, office space and the direction of the institute.
One of the most publicised incidents occurred in 2016, when Nyanzi protested the closure of her office at the Makerere Institute of Social Research. She staged a nude protest to express her frustration with the institute’s management and what she considered unfair treatment.
Mamdani’s name became associated with the controversy because he was the institute’s executive director.
There were also disagreements concerning the institute’s doctoral programme, which was associated with Mamdani’s academic leadership.
Is Stella Nyanzi married to Mahmood Mamdani?
There is no credible evidence that Stella Nyanzi is Mahmood Mamdani’s wife or that they have a romantic relationship. Their publicly documented connection is professional and academic.
As of November 2026, Stella Nyanzi is living in Germany, where she continues her academic work, poetry, writing and political activism. She left Uganda in February 2021 and initially travelled to Kenya with her three children after expressing concerns about their safety. In January 2022, she moved to Germany through the Writers-in-Exile programme supported by PEN Germany.
Her academic work in Germany
Nyanzi joined Ruhr University Bochum in Germany in 2025 as a visiting researcher under the Philipp Schwartz Initiative, which supports researchers at risk. Her research interests include African feminism, gender, sexuality, LGBTQ+ rights and political dissent. She has also participated in international literary events, conferences and discussions about political freedom.
Her documentary film
One of the major developments in her recent public life is the documentary The Woman Who Poked the Leopard which was directed by Ugandan filmmaker Patience Nitumwesiga. It explores Nyanzi’s activism, political struggles, imprisonment, motherhood and eventual exile in Germany.
The film premiered internationally in 2025 and received two awards at DOK Leipzig, including recognition for its portrayal of solidarity and resistance. By November 2026, the film was continuing to feature at international screenings, including a September screening in Cologne, Germany.
Is Stella Nyanzi returning to Uganda?
Nyanzi has repeatedly expressed her love for Uganda and her desire to contribute to the country’s future. However, she has also explained that she does not want to return to a situation where she fears arrest or imprisonment because of her writing and political opinions. In a February 2026 interview with Amnesty Journal, she discussed the role of provocative language in challenging political power and repression.
