Producer Ykee Benda responds to rape allegations

By Too Jared | 3yrs ago | 3 min read

Uganda Musicians Association (UMA) president Wycliffe Tugume alias Ykee Benda has responded to accusations of sexual assault. Benda Tuesday said accusations which surfaced January 9, 2021, when a Twitter user alleged that he raped a girl while in high school were false.

Taking to the social networking service to set the record straight, the Mpaka Records boss said the accusations were baseless and accused his handlers of mismanaging his account. “Reference is made to tweets that appeared on my Twitter account on the evening of 9th January 2021. The person that manages my account got into some heated exchanges with a number of Twitter users and in the process, a lot of regrettable things were said,” tweeted the Farmer hitmaker.

“As has become the habit a lot of wild things were posted some of which included an allegation of rape one Twitter user claimed dated back in my high school days. I would like to categorically state that this allegation is baseless and should be treated with the contempt it deserves. The tweets that were shared on my account do not represent my persona. I regret the damage this has created for my brand as a musician. I have taken the necessary steps to ensure that the unfortunate events that happened on Twitter do not happen again. I’m still scratching my head,” he went on.

News that comes in the wake of similar accusations against fellow entertainer D’Banj who in July 2020 was taken to task over his stand on gender violence after talent scout Benjamin Ese took to Twitter to allege that the singer raped a model, Seyitan Babatayo, at a white-party event held at Glee Hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos in 2018.

According to Ese, D’banj allegedly raped Babatayo after forcibly gaining access to her room while she slept at the hotel. “So I slept off within 5/6am and pls note (I’m a naked sleeper) and woke up and found Dbanj in my room already and I asked him what he was doing in my room he didn’t say a word…” Read one of her since-deleted tweets.

Claims D’banj denied. “This will be the only time, I will address the recent false allegations and lies from the pit of hell. I have chosen to do so because the incident is a slap to my marriage and my beautiful wife, my entire family, and those who believe in me… I did not want to dignify the slurs with a response but it appears my silence has empowered my accusers to think I have been scared into the shadows so I would like to state that this accusation is false and ludicrous and have been handed over to my legal team, while the Nigerian Police is Investigating the criminal aspect of it," he wrote.