Mother And Daughter Star As Beauty Queens

Like mother, like daughter. Two generations of beauty queens, same destiny, same family. In 1969, Beatrice Mulera-Epenu took part in that year’s inaugural Miss Uganda contest. Thirty-two years later, her youngest daughter, Juliet Epenu, also took part in the finals of the Miss Uganda 2001 contest.Beatrice won the contest, held at the then Apollo Hotel (now the Sheraton), and became the first Miss Uganda of record. Juliet came breath-takingly close to repeating her mother’s feat, coming second to the winner, Victoria Nabunya.But for a few weeks last year, when Juliet stood in as Miss Uganda for a suspended Nabunya, their dream was attained. Juliet became the first known beauty queen to win the same national pageant that her mother had also won.A few days ago, mother and daughter sat down with The New Vision and talked about their unique achievements.I’m very, very proud of Juliet and all she has achieved. Of course I wanted her to win outright, and was a bit disappointed when she did not — the elder Epenu said. “I was the first Miss Uganda, and wanted my daughter to also be a Miss Uganda. But now I’m okay with what she achieved.”Juliet does not understand the disappointment that her mother and sisters felt when she came second. She figures she got as far as she could.“When the winner was announced it was something of a relief for me. I was glad it was all over, and was happy with what I achieved,” she said. “I was not disappointed at all, I was happy. You know, there is a reason for everything, maybe I was not meant to be the winner.”Two beauty contests, same family, but very different circumstances. Beatrice said that compared to the current contests, theirs was just a ‘fun thing.’ And that the standards were very different.When the then Beatrice Mulera was announced the winner, she was 30 years old, and already had three children. And she had never heard of Miss World.“There were no real standards like there is today, practically anybody could take part,” she said. “There was a swimming costume category, and evening wear, that is all. They just asked us a few questions, and that was it. We trained how to walk and pose, but not what these girls do these days.”There were prizes, but small ones, nothing like TV sets and new cars to drive, or trips abroad. There were no sponsors, and the girls bought the clothes themselves.They were measured and their vital statistics taken, although Beatrice does not remember what her measurements were. But since no one knew about Miss World and its requirements, the tall, skinny figure that her daughter has, was not yet in vogue. So the more voluptuous figures, typical of many Ugandan women, were the popular ones.When Juliet participated last year, the rules stipulated that a girl had to be at least 5’ 6” tall, under 23 years, unmarried and with no children. Juliet is 6’0”, and was 20 years old when she contested. She says her mother used to be just as tall, but is now around 5’7”.The 1969 contest was organised by the late Jimmy Dean, and Beatrice remembers that one of the judges was the late Michael Kawalya-Kaggwa (murdered by Idi Amin in the Seventies). While Juliet had to be persuaded to enter the contest, her mother had no qualms at all in 1969.“I was young, smart and beautiful. I knew I would make it,” Beatrice says with a nostalgic look in her eyes. “But we had to convince Juliet here to take part, she was very afraid.”Juliet has been a model with Ziper Models for some time, but looked at the Miss Uganda pageant as different.“Honestly I was scared,” she said. “As a model you just show off the dress, in the Miss Uganda it is about intellect, beauty, and elegance. But my friends said there was nothing to lose and everything to gain. So I decided to take part.”After Beatrice Mulera became the first Miss Uganda, it ended there. No follow ups, no press conferences, nothing but a few people calling to congratulate her. She did not even get a raise at the Drapers clothes store where she worked.“It was not like now, when the figure of Miss Uganda is a revered one, you became Miss Uganda and that was it. Everybody went back to their jobs. But at least we had no Red Pepper to haunt us,” she finished with a laugh.Last year’s finals in Munyonyo will always be a memorable time for the Epenu family. Miss Uganda 1969 was there for every minute of the event, but hardly watched it. She has high-blood-pressure, and could not stand the tension, so she spent almost the whole evening with her head somewhere near the table.The whole family was there, and her other daughters implored their mother not get sick before the show ended. And they all cried when Juliet came second.But the final act was yet to come. Sometime last December, Juliet stood in for Nabunya as Miss Uganda. For three weeks, they shared the same destiny, albeit 30 odd years separated the two. Beatrice and Juliet. Two Miss Ugandas, mother and daughter.Ends