UGANDA (eTN) – This year’s Miss Tourism Uganda pageant held at The Kampala Serena Hotel on August 28, 2015 was not exactly your conventional red carpet runway. A special category for the disabled dubbed “independents” was introduced to the competition.
This was under the initiative of the Tourism Wildlife and Antiquities Minister, Maria Mutagamba, who took the challenge in stride when tasked by a legislator for special interest groups in Uganda’s parliament when asked what the pageant had to offer for the disabled.
When she took the tourism docket in 2012, the Honorable Minister in her magnanimity envisaged that the pageant should be used as a propagator for sustainability through which young girls could get jobs locally instead of being duped into prostitution as she got to find out first hand during a visit to Malaysia when she spoke to young girls who had been trafficked under the guise of employment.
As the “independents” were introduced, visually-impaired, 20-year-old Aisha Bahati won the hearts of the crowd with her singing and flawless hair-styling skills by plaiting the hair of the co-emcee, Flavia Tumusiime, as all lights zoomed in. Aisha eventually out-competed her closest rival Joan Namubiru, an aspiring food scientist in college, whose dancing skills were not enough to win the coveted prize. However, she received a sponsorship pledge from Kampala Serena Hotel in consolation, whereas each of the “independent” contestants received a nominal cash prize and a gift hamper of cosmetics sponsored by “Radiant Hair Products.” A chubby reveler in the crowd was overheard clamoring for inclusion of “size 8” independents come 2016.
The evening was crowned when nineteen-year-old Pauline Akurut took the main event out of 22 finalists who had showcased cultural and creative wear, including a round of questions from the judges. Karen Nyangan was first runner-up, while Shiela Kirabo was second runner-up.
In addition to a brand new vehicle, Pauline received keys to a brand new Toyota, a fridge, and flat-screen television from Hisense, and will be Uganda’s ambassador at the Miss Tourism World Final in Bangkok, Thailand in December.
The Honorable Maria Mutagamba has become the darling of the industry since she revived the Miss Tourism pageant three years ago, boosted when Uganda’s Barbara Nakito scooped the “Miss Friendship” accolade in Malaysia three years ago.
With an election year coming up in 2016, the industry can only be anxious to know whether the future of Miss Tourism lies in the balance, depending on the minister’s electorate in the little hamlet of Rakai, and at least hopes that her successor continues with her “baby” with the same passion.
