Who is Prince Okuyo Joel? Flash Uganda Media looks at his biography, age, wife, family, tribe, achievements, and relationship with Lt.Colonel Gabriel Francis Atiku, Yema Drakuru Atiku, Dolly Phionah, Cindy Sanyu, Michael Landon, Jr., Gabriel Range, Adrian McFarlane, Ruman Kudwai, Yuval Shefferman, the early life and education of the resident of The Lhynnq-X, Inc.
Okuyo Joel Atiku Prynce, popularly known as Prince Okuyo Joel, is a Ugandan actor, model, cinematographer, carpenter, qualified insurer, metalwork fabricator, social worker, photographer, and lecturer.
His film acting breakthrough came in 2007 when he was cast as the Devil’s reincarnation in Ugandan director Matt Bish’s popular Ugawood film Battle of the Souls.
Prynce is also the President of The Lhynnq-X, Inc., his own company.
Prynce Okuyo’s Net Worth
Okuyo’s net worth is estimated to be five hundred ten thousand dollars ($510,000).
He has accumulated this over the years as a result of the various endeavours he has undertaken in relation to the various skills he has mastered.
Early Life and Education
Okuyo Joel Atiku Prynce was born on December 4, 1983, in the Arua District of Uganda’s West Nile sub-region.
He was born to the late Lt.Colonel Gabriel Francis Atiku and Yema Drakuru Atiku, both Lugbara. Because his father was in the military, he was born and raised in a military family.
Joel began acting at the age of four by imitating his father’s walking style, as well as things he saw on TV or witnessed at school, according to his mother.
He first performed in front of an audience when he was about six years old, at school. The next opportunity came when he was 11 years old, and he received an award for it. Okuyo left university in 2006 after auditioning for Battle of the Souls.
He earned a Bachelor of Social Work and Social Administration (BSWSA) degree from Uganda Christian University.
Okuyo also became a member of MITG (Music & Instrumental Training Group), an Arua-based Drama Group that advocated for European Union AIDS Intervention Programmes in West Nile.
Family Life
Prince and his girlfriend Dolly Phionah, met in the fall of 2011 and immediately fell in love. The couple had a daughter and resided in Seeta-Mukono together.
Later, Okuyo engaged dancehall performer Cindy Sanyu, with whom he had collaborated on two films, November Tear and Bella, in March 2020. Cindy and Prynce had begun dating in secret in 2016.
Prynce, who had separated from his baby mama, Dollyiantha Phiona Mukasa aka Dolly Bubu, showed seriousness and paid a visit to Cindy’s parents at the ‘Kukyala’ ceremony on May 30th, 2021 in Kampala.
Cindy, who was pregnant at the time, officially introduced Atiku to her family in Serere District, Eastern Uganda, on December 5th, 2021.
On December 11, 2021, they married at St. Stephen’s Church in Kisugu Muyenga, Kampala, in the company of close relatives and friends.
Cindy and her husband Prince Joel Okuyo have two children, a son and a daughter. They had their daughter in January 2022 and their son on April 23rd, 2023.
They each have a daughter from prior relationships.
Career and Professional Work Experience
Prynce Okuyo Joel has appeared in numerous films and plays, both domestic and international.
He has also collaborated with world-renowned filmmakers such as Michael Landon, Jr., Gabriel Range, Adrian McFarlane, Ruman Kudwai, Yuval Shefferman, and fellow Ugandan Matthew Bishanga.
In 2007, Okuyo was the face of BlackBerry Curve (MTN Uganda).
After training at Mira Nair’s yearly film academy, he acted in several Maisha Film Lab short films, including On Time (2008), directed by Patricia Olwoch, Looserpool, Live Joseph, and Estranged, directed by Sandra Kosse.
In 2009, he debuted as a runway model at the V.I.P fashion night in Lagos, Nigeria. He has worked as a model for Vanity Models (Verona, Italy) and Gorgeous Fashions in Uganda.
Joel’s visage can also be seen in SAB Miller television, billboard, and print media advertising for beer brands including Stone Lager in Ghana, Safari Lager in Tanzania, and Nile Special Lager in Uganda, all of which were directed by Mark Lawrie for The Videolounge.
Other television ads include Warid Telecom (Congo Brazzaville) directed by Steve Jean, Warid (Uganda), Stanbic Bank, and Johns Hopkins University directed by Carolyn Kamya, and Bank of Uganda directed by Matt Bish.
Other Crafts
Okuyo has appeared as a supporting actor in radio productions such as Mako Meere, directed by Patricia Olwoch (for Mifumi), and Rock Point, directed by Albert Mwesige (Audio Central). He used to work for Bob FM as well.
He has appeared in theatre productions such as Just You, Me, and the Silence, directed by Judith Adong in collaboration with Alfajiri Productions.
In 2017, he acted as Lokil in the production of Strings, a theatre play.
Okuyo has also taught photojournalism, creative writing, and radio production at Makerere University and Uganda Christian University.
Music videos
Okuyo appears on Priscilla Kalibala’s “Boo,” the original soundtrack to Battle of the Souls, as well as Terry De Vos’ “Free People,” the original soundtrack of State Research Bureau.
He also appears as her lover in Winnie Nwagi’s “Kibulamu” music video.
Abasa’s “Ready To Leave” also features him. Prynce’s production firm has created music videos for artists such as Cindy, including “Whine Yo Waist,” “Sunset,” and “Kiki,” among others.
Films
| Year | Title | Role | Director |
| 2007 | Battle of the Souls | The Devil | Matt Bish |
| 2008 | On Time | Supporting actor | Patricia Olwoch |
| 2009 | Hearts in Pieces | Supporting actor | Mariam Ndagire |
| 2010 | I am Slave | Featured | Gabriel Range |
| 2010 | Imani | Featured | Carolyn Kamya |
| 2010 | A Good Catholic Girl | Lead | Matt Bish |
| 2011 | State Research Bureau | (Prisoner) James | Matt Bish |
| 2013 | Imbabazi (The Pardon) | Lead | Joel Karekezi |
| 2013 | Wekeza Inalipa | Featured | Baba Hadji |
| 2014 | Situka | Supporting actor | Kwezi Kaganda |
| 2014 | In Reality | Doctor | Douglas Benda Kasule |
| 2015 | King of Darkness | Lead: Detective Lewis | |
| 2015 | The Black Belgian | Supporting actor | Jean Luc Habyarimana |
| 2016 | Jinxed | Supporting actor | Gary Mugisha |
| 2016 | New Intentions | Supporting actor | Kihire Kennedy |
| 2016 | Mr. Ability | DOP | Joel Okuyo Atiku |
| 2016 | Rain | DJ Daddy | Daniel Mugerwa |
| 2016 | Queen of Katwe | Ggaba Merchant | Mira Nair |
| 2017 | Black and White | Lead | |
| 2017 | Kony: Order from Above | Kony, Omona, first AD | T. Steve Ayeny |
| 2017 | Bella | Supporting actor, DOP | Matt Bish |
| 2017 | Kyenvu | Supporting actor | Kemiyondo Coutinho |
| 2017 | The Bad Mexican | Moses | Loukman Ali |
| 2018 | The Mercy of the Jungle | Joel Karekezi | |
| 2019 | November Tear | Richard Nondo | |
| 2019 | Splash | Joel Okuyo Atiku | |
| 2022 | Pieces of Me | ||
| 2022 | The Test | Titto | |
| 2022 | King of Darkness | Detective Lewis |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Broadcaster | Director |
| 2008 | Locked Up Abroad | Supporting actor | National Geographic | Paul Berczeller |
| 2009 | Lost in Africa | Supporting actor | Kuperman TV | Yuval Shefferman |
| 2012 | Raised Wild | Featured | Discovery World | Adrian McFarlane |
| 2013 | Kona | Guest | Multichoice | Wanjiru Kairu, Natasha Likimani, Damaris Irungu |
| 2017 | Reflections (series) | Lead | Savannah Moon | Nana Kagga |
| 2017 | Brothers (series) | Lead: Keith, Producer, DOP | Jephine Films | |
| 2017 | Taste of Times, Season 2 | Executive Producer, DOP | Jephine Films |
Achievements and Awards
Joel Okuyo Atiku Prynce is an award-winning actor who has appeared in films and television shows and has been in the film industry for almost 30 years.
His first role as a villain earned him five international awards, including Best Supporting Actor at the Balafon Film Festival in Bari, Italy (2008).
He was also named Best Actor in a Supporting Role at the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) in Lagos, Nigeria, in 2009.
In 2010, he was the first male to appear in African Woman Magazine’s ‘All Lights On’ segment.
Joel starred in the promo for Love Makanika (TV series), one of the first Pearl Magic shows to go digital on GOtv on October 1, 2018.
Other honours include Best Actor at both the 2010 Ubuntu Village in Colorado (USA) and the 2011 Zanzibar International Film Festival [ZIFF] in Tanzania. Okuyo has been dubbed “Africa’s Brad Pitt” by the Ugandan publication The Observer.
Controversies
Okuyo faced criticism, even from friends, for his performance in The River and the Mountain, a play whose parts were deemed to “implicitly promote homosexual acts” by Uganda’s Media Council.
It was written by Oxford-educated poet Beau Hopkins in partnership with David Cecil, a British producer and Tilapia manager, and was found antithetical to Ugandan laws, cultural norms, and morals, resulting in Cecil’s detention on September 6, 2012.
Okuyo plays Samson, a homosexual manufacturing owner who is murdered by his own employees after being incited by fervently conservative pastors.
Okuyo was accused of “being funded by gay lobby groups,” but she said, “I am not involved in gay advocacy.” However, the goal of this play is to make people realise that we are all human. We must not judge, isolate, injure, or kill others.”
Okuyo was accused of human trafficking in 2012, and sadly, the organisations with which he had worked believed the charges.
His ordeal began on the morning of December 18, 2012, at the height of his career, when he went shopping at Kampala’s Garden City mall.
On suspicions of human trafficking, he was violently apprehended by a gang of plain-clothed security personnel from the Special Investigations Unit (SIU).
The SIU was acting on a tip from The Red Pepper tabloid, which had published a sensational story a few days earlier claiming that Joel was the kingpin of a syndicate responsible for selling thousands of innocent Ugandan girls to work as sex slaves in Asia.
According to an unnamed source, Prynce enticed her and the other females to their fate by promising them jobs as marketers in Malaysia.
He was barred from acting as well as any other duty behind the camera, such as directing or filming for about eight years, and he was already considering joining the army.
Fortunately, when he was brought to court, he was found not guilty. This aided his return to acting.
Joel said that the claims are part of an elaborate smear campaign launched against him by his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend, Stephen Lucas Seryazi, a UN pilot.
Joel has also participated in a number of criminal identification parades at SIU, but no victims have come forward. His father, a high-ranking army officer in the UPDF, was accused of utilising his own military ties to hush his alleged victims.
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