The bitter Big Brother lessons

By Emmanuel Ssejjengo
BIG Brother Africa is back again. And again, we are going to have Ugandan representatives who will spend weeks in that house and come back to eat dust on our streets.

And when they come back we shall ask them why they even bothered Big Brother with their presence. Putting the winners aside, is there any gain for other housemates in this reality show?

Many of the participants go there with high hopes. They seek a bright future just by representing Uganda. It is true that the show exposes them to Africa, a platform they should use to their advantage.

But apart from being held by Golola Moses in Guvnor, we are hard-pressed to find any other achievements Sharon O gained. She just went back to her regular job as one of the two Obsessions.

The group was eventually re-named Obsessions Africa. Goodlyfe seems to have given her a better deal than the Big Brother show. At least we shall see her when performing on the Goodlyfe show today.

That should be a reality check for Kyle Duncan Kushaba, 25, and Jannette Georgina Lutaaya, 21. They are going to be exposed.

We are going to look at them as celebrities-to-be. They are going to cease to be lay people. Yes, even Hannington Kuteesa cannot go to places unnoticed. So for him, it is either a high-end hang out when money is available or a kafunda when he falls on hard times.

Philbert just hides at corner tables in bars. He just cannot be himself; a free spirit. Big Brother happened to them and now life is really a drag. Maureen Namatovu would probably be a greater fashion designer now. But she decided to give fashion a break to go to that house.

It is not true that Big Brother gave her the White husband. Fashion designers easily find their White man. Namatovu’s elder sister is married to a White man. Namatovu used to work in Kabalagala, a place frequented by Whites.

She seemed destined to have one; not because of Big Brother but because they were in her face all the time. Gaetano Kaggwa was only a first, and most probably the last. When he came back, Nsaba Buturo yelled, Bebe Cool sang, the President hailed him, radio stations cuddled him and Mnet kissed him. Now Nairobi has taken him to bed.

But Gaetano was naturally brilliant. For all others, you either win or lose completely. You come back to Kampala, get interviews in the regular press and explain “how tough it was”.

You also tell the press that you really loved the other housemate and endevour to explain that the love was genuine and not for show.

Barely a month down the road, not a single journalist looks for you or calls to ask your views on even the very simple matters.

And if you left your job for Big Brother, your employer notices that he even did better in your absence. So you gather your academic documents in a big brown envelope and hit the streets. Maurice Mugisha easily went back to his job as a model and photographer.

It is hard to know where Ernest Wasake is. But he used to hit newsrooms as a representative of a PR firm when he discovered that after being paraded on TV, radio didn’t want him anymore.

However, he is getting back to his feet and his voice has been heard on a radio station. We shall watch the two Ugandans and read about them in the papers. But as soon as they hit the tarmac at Entebbe Airport, life will change.

They may just be losers, even when courtesy compels that we do not shout at them. It’s not our wish. We all want to watch Kyle again on Urban TV and even if it means just seeing Jannette dance on stage or in the night club.