Moses Opobo
6 September 2007
Kampala — In Jinja, where he is based, he is popular for having a mzungu fiancée, Sharon Webb, fondly referred to as Tolofaina, named after one of his songs.
At music concerts, he is generally known as the artiste whose stage persona is never complete without the presence of Tolofaina.
Recently, Kalikwani and Tolofaina received wild ululations from fans at Henry Tigan's album launch at Ssese Gateway beach. "Omusoga, Tolofaina, Kalikwani," the crowds shouted.
Later in the night, when Kalikwani left Tolofaina backstage, the audience booed him. The stunt went terribly bad, earning him one of the most placid receptions of the night. Kalikwani, a rafting guide with the Jinja-based Nile River Explorers Rafting Company, admits that he is into the stunt game, but is quick to add that performing with his fiancée came inadvertently.
When he unveiled his break-through hit,
Tolofaina, a song about a beautiful girl he asks to love him, his fans started asking him who Tolofaina was. Since he was dating Webb, he brought her out for his fans to see. The audience seemed not content with this. They started demanding to see them acting like lovers on stage. They would demand for kisses, hugs and an intimate dance.
And they would cheer the more once the Kalikwani's honoured these demands. This explains why the song Tolofaina stands out from all his other songs. like Omukwano Gw'ekkubo, Tukoye Okubakwana, Sikola Mutwe, and Toloba, which he did with Da Twinz.
What also makes Tolofaina unique is the fact that it was recorded in Zambia. By then Kalikwani had gone to work for Safari Power, a rafting company. That was 2005. When Webb visited him shortly after, he decided to compose a song about her, and they set off to record Tolofaina.
Webb, who came to Uganda in 2005 as part of a trans-Africa tour, feels more attached to Kalikwani than her family back home, and to Uganda more than England.
The two met at the Nile River Explorers Rafting base in Jinja, where Kalikwani works. Webb and her group were there for a rafting expedition.
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