Akite Agnes is a Ugandan stand up comedienne, actress, events MC and Philanthropist. She is popularly known for her role as Arach in The HostelTV Series where she acted as Odoch's girlfriend and owner of a shop. She has also acted in Pearl Magic's Girl From Mparo as Mama Brian, the nosy neighbour. Her style of comedy reflects on the daily issues that face people as they go about their lives.
Early life and education
Akite Agnes was born on 19 March 1983 in Kampala, Uganda to Anthony Opio, an auditor and Hellen Opio. She is the fifth born of nine children. She grew up in Kitintale and later on Mutungo, which are suburbs of Kampala. She was raised a Catholic. She went to St. Kizito Primary School, Bugolobi for her primary, where she did her Primary Leaving Examinations from and then later on Our lady of Good Counsel, Gayaza where she did her secondary education. She did her Uganda Certificate Examinations from Naalya SS, Namugongo. She later went for her A levels in St. Lawrence Creamland Campus where she did her UACE. She joined Makerere University in 2003 where she pursued and completed a Bachelors of Arts in Tourism
Career
2009–2019
In 2009, Akite was approached by Anne Kansiime to act in a new TV comedy series called The Hostel after her friend, Pamela had turned it down. She got the part as Arach, without auditioning. That was the beginning of her acting career. The Hostel was a Series that was very popular in Uganda, initially shown on NTV and later on, was also shown on DSTV. She acted for three seasons and later left the set in 2012 as she was preparing to give birth to her second born, Brianna. In 2014 she debuted her stand up comedy act with a group called The Punchliners after being persuaded by Anne Kansiime and Daniel Omara to try out Stand-up comedy. She later joined Comedy Files. In 2015 she was part of the Queens of Comedy Uganda vs Kings of Comedy Rwanda in Kigali. In 2016 she featured in Girl From Mparo as Mama Brian the nosy neighbour, a series that was aired on UBC. and later on, DSTV's Pearl Magic. In 2018, when the contract with Comedy Files ended, she started doing solo acts on different comedy platforms including Rock Comedy and Comedy Store Ug, hosted by Alex Muhangi. In June, she appeared in the Kampala Comedy Festival, hosted by Okello Okello, another renowned comedian in Uganda. On her return to Comedy Stores UG in August, she impressed the crowd. The clip for that show went viral on WhatsApp where she was heaped with praise. She attributed the popularity of that clip to Comedy Store which has a vibrant social media and Kakensa Media who have a huge following on Facebook. Between August and November she was a permanent member of the UG Pineapple Comedy Tour, which took her to different parts of the country including Mbale, Gulu, Fort Portal, Jinja and Mbarara. She was part of the Group from Comedy Store Ug that went to Mbarara for its maiden show outside Kampala. She featured for the first time in the fourth episode of Africa Laughs on 8 October at Kampala Serena Hotel., hosted by Patrick Salvador Idringi and featuring other comedians like Basketmouth, Alfred Kainga, Eddie Kadi, Mc Jesse, Professor Haimo, Arthur Nkusi, and other talented Ugandan Comedians. In December, she resumed acting, this time with Fun Factory in a TV series called Mizigo Express as Sam's girlfriend. In early March 2019, Akite created and hosted the Arise Woman! Comedy Jam on International Women's Day. In celebration of the day, the show comprised an all female cast. These included Nancy Kobusheshe, Maggie the Bwaiserian, Rich Mouth, Dora Nakagga, Leila Kachapizo and the Fun Factory ladies. Part of the proceeds of the show was given to charity. In late March, she returned to Kigali as part of the Seka Fest which featured comedians from Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria. In April, Agnes featured on The Comedian's OutLuke Podcast presented by Stand-up Comedian Luke Anthony as part of a Uganda Special. In July 2019, she was part of the Ugandan comedians who performed in the Laugh Festival in Nairobi, Kenya and in September, performed at the Uganda North America Association Convention in Chicago. In December, she headlined in The One Africa Festival in a bid to fight xenophobia at Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
Style of comedy
Akite's style of stand-up is observational comedy where she makes one see the funny side of the day-to-day life of the common man. On occasions, she has the good nature to have a go at herself and her attributes using self-deprecation. Akite's jokes are based on everyday life and experiences. It is from such that she picks up a line or two, builds up on them, and eventually crafts something funny out of it. However she does not do Political jokes
Personal life
Akite is the fifth born of a family of two brothers, Richard and Emmanuel; and six sisters, Cathy, Grace, Mary, Susan, Harriet and Doreen. Akite is a mother to two children, Noel, 13 and Brianna, 5. She is in a relationship with Brian Makalama. She is a devout Catholic who has been worshiping at Our Lady of Africa Church, Mbuya since she was a little girl.
Philanthropy
Akite is the co-founder and CEO of Arise Woman Foundation, which aims to advocate for and empower women and youth. Proceeds from the Arise Women! Comedy Jam were donated to Home of Hope, Jinja.
