Mugisha, Uganda’s Big Brother housemate
Aug 24, 2008
THIS dude has walked the line. And along the way, he has built poise, a positive attitude and learnt to keep his head up, seizing every opportunity. <br>Although modelling stands out on his list of trades, he is more than just another guy on the catwalk. He’s Morris Herbert Mugisha, the guy who
By Nigel Nassar
THIS dude has walked the line. And along the way, he has built poise, a positive attitude and learnt to keep his head up, seizing every opportunity.
Although modelling stands out on his list of trades, he is more than just another guy on the catwalk.
He’s Morris Herbert Mugisha, the guy who is eyeing the Big Brother Africa 3 jackpot of sh170m, which he is competing for with 11 hopefuls from 11 other African countries.
Last night, fans in more than 40 African countries watched the 12 contestants walk the red carpet up the luxurious Big Brother house in South Africa to live as housemates and convince the viewers to vote for them.
Optimistic and resilient, Mugisha’s demeanour is typical of one equipped with a good measure of intelligence. He’s not hyper, but neither is he dull. He has a rich sense of humour and a good command of the English language.
And to crown it all, he has got the looks — the type A-list magazines such as
Flair use to illustrate men’s grooming.
He is likely to register a big number of female fans – and be sure to see them swoon over his chiselled body for the 91 days the M-Net reality show runs.
Is it a wonder that he is the face of Syliva Owori fashion house? A model, photographer, playwright, movie and theatre actor, holder of a bachelors degree and two diplomas - who else would make a better Ugandan representative?
With the macho suaveness and go-getting attitude that winners of such shows are made of, Mugisha has got it all.
Born 29 years ago in Kyotera, Masaka to Nalis Bigingo, Mugisha lost his mother at the age of four and was raised by his stepmother, Jane Bigingo, who loved him all the same. In fact, he insists that the word ‘stepmother’ is not befitting for Jane, whom he fondly calls ‘mother’.
“She gave me all the love, taught me good manners and together with dad, took me to good schools. So, I call her mother, and although I am the only kid from my mother, my brother and four sisters from Jane love me as the first born,†Mugisha says.
A Mukiga by tribe, Mugisha grew up in Luzira Barracks where his father, worked for Uganda Prisons Service, and stepmother working with Uganda Commercial Bank, now Stanbic Bank.
Mugisha went to Murchison Bay Primary School in the barracks.
As a first born, he had to dash back home earlier than his siblings to prepare lunch for them. But this, he says, helped him get domesticated, a quality he takes pride in.
He always got in trouble with his parents for licking sugar and dodging medication, especially injections. To date, he has a phobia for syringes and a love for eating. “I have loved food since childhood. I used to wake up early and eating the first slice of bread even before breakfast, and then complaining that the food was never enough,†Mugisha recalls.
Midway through primary school, Mugisha moved to – Shimoni Demonstration School because he hated the school in the barracks.
“Here, the kids had nice shoes and never dirtied their uniforms. I found it hard to adjust, but I never forgot the rough life of my former school, so I struggled to keep my head above the water.â€
At Kako Secondary School, Masaka, where he completed his O’levels, Mugisha developed a liking for stylish outfits, a habit that stuck through high school at Namirembe Hillside to Makerere University, where he got a diploma in Performing Arts.
He pursued the diploma concurrently with another one in Radio and Television Production at the Institute of Business and Media Studies before going back to Makerere for a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in Cinema Studies and Literature.
While pursuing college studies, Mugisha learned digital photography from his father, who, aside from working with prisons, is also a photographer, athletics coach with Uganda Amateur Athletics Federation, veteran athlete and owner of Olympic Studios in Luzira.
It’s while at this studio that Mugisha cut his teeth in video and digital photography shooting and producing a wedding in 1998.
Today, there are a number of television commercials, ads and documentaries to the model’s name. Some include “A Multi-sectoral Approach on HIV/Aidsâ€, “The Plight of Street Kidsâ€, plus another one about water crisis in rural areas and how it can be conserved.
He has done script writing and directed plays for schools like Kabojja Secondary School, Katikamu S.D.A, St. Lawrence Citizens High, Kiira College and Kibuli Secondary.
He has acted with Diamonds Ensemble, taken a supporting role in Live Josepha, a movie by Ghetto Film School from USA, acted in Hand-in-Hand, a soap opera promoting blue-collar jobs, been a cover model for Paparazzi’s Zenji Magazine, and now a lead photographer at Shutterspeed 28 and the face of Sylvia Owori.
Asked whether he would make love on Big Brother, Mugisha says: “Man, I have a four-year-old daughter whom I wouldn’t want to scandalise. But I would kiss the first girl that made herself available, after all I am single.â€
Two years ago, he broke up with the mother of his daughter. All he talks about is his daughter Hailey Abergail Mugisha.
And if we should perhaps worry about anything, then it is a silent temper you see taking cover behind his glass-like eyes. But a number of things seem to be on his side, including the day the reality show ends being his birthday – November 23. What a wonderful day to hit a jackpot!
THIS dude has walked the line. And along the way, he has built poise, a positive attitude and learnt to keep his head up, seizing every opportunity.
Although modelling stands out on his list of trades, he is more than just another guy on the catwalk.
He’s Morris Herbert Mugisha, the guy who is eyeing the Big Brother Africa 3 jackpot of sh170m, which he is competing for with 11 hopefuls from 11 other African countries.
Last night, fans in more than 40 African countries watched the 12 contestants walk the red carpet up the luxurious Big Brother house in South Africa to live as housemates and convince the viewers to vote for them.
Optimistic and resilient, Mugisha’s demeanour is typical of one equipped with a good measure of intelligence. He’s not hyper, but neither is he dull. He has a rich sense of humour and a good command of the English language.
And to crown it all, he has got the looks — the type A-list magazines such as
Flair use to illustrate men’s grooming.
He is likely to register a big number of female fans – and be sure to see them swoon over his chiselled body for the 91 days the M-Net reality show runs.
Is it a wonder that he is the face of Syliva Owori fashion house? A model, photographer, playwright, movie and theatre actor, holder of a bachelors degree and two diplomas - who else would make a better Ugandan representative?
With the macho suaveness and go-getting attitude that winners of such shows are made of, Mugisha has got it all.
Born 29 years ago in Kyotera, Masaka to Nalis Bigingo, Mugisha lost his mother at the age of four and was raised by his stepmother, Jane Bigingo, who loved him all the same. In fact, he insists that the word ‘stepmother’ is not befitting for Jane, whom he fondly calls ‘mother’.
“She gave me all the love, taught me good manners and together with dad, took me to good schools. So, I call her mother, and although I am the only kid from my mother, my brother and four sisters from Jane love me as the first born,†Mugisha says.
A Mukiga by tribe, Mugisha grew up in Luzira Barracks where his father, worked for Uganda Prisons Service, and stepmother working with Uganda Commercial Bank, now Stanbic Bank.
Mugisha went to Murchison Bay Primary School in the barracks.
As a first born, he had to dash back home earlier than his siblings to prepare lunch for them. But this, he says, helped him get domesticated, a quality he takes pride in.
He always got in trouble with his parents for licking sugar and dodging medication, especially injections. To date, he has a phobia for syringes and a love for eating. “I have loved food since childhood. I used to wake up early and eating the first slice of bread even before breakfast, and then complaining that the food was never enough,†Mugisha recalls.
Midway through primary school, Mugisha moved to – Shimoni Demonstration School because he hated the school in the barracks.
“Here, the kids had nice shoes and never dirtied their uniforms. I found it hard to adjust, but I never forgot the rough life of my former school, so I struggled to keep my head above the water.â€
At Kako Secondary School, Masaka, where he completed his O’levels, Mugisha developed a liking for stylish outfits, a habit that stuck through high school at Namirembe Hillside to Makerere University, where he got a diploma in Performing Arts.
He pursued the diploma concurrently with another one in Radio and Television Production at the Institute of Business and Media Studies before going back to Makerere for a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in Cinema Studies and Literature.
While pursuing college studies, Mugisha learned digital photography from his father, who, aside from working with prisons, is also a photographer, athletics coach with Uganda Amateur Athletics Federation, veteran athlete and owner of Olympic Studios in Luzira.
It’s while at this studio that Mugisha cut his teeth in video and digital photography shooting and producing a wedding in 1998.
Today, there are a number of television commercials, ads and documentaries to the model’s name. Some include “A Multi-sectoral Approach on HIV/Aidsâ€, “The Plight of Street Kidsâ€, plus another one about water crisis in rural areas and how it can be conserved.
He has done script writing and directed plays for schools like Kabojja Secondary School, Katikamu S.D.A, St. Lawrence Citizens High, Kiira College and Kibuli Secondary.
He has acted with Diamonds Ensemble, taken a supporting role in Live Josepha, a movie by Ghetto Film School from USA, acted in Hand-in-Hand, a soap opera promoting blue-collar jobs, been a cover model for Paparazzi’s Zenji Magazine, and now a lead photographer at Shutterspeed 28 and the face of Sylvia Owori.
Asked whether he would make love on Big Brother, Mugisha says: “Man, I have a four-year-old daughter whom I wouldn’t want to scandalise. But I would kiss the first girl that made herself available, after all I am single.â€
Two years ago, he broke up with the mother of his daughter. All he talks about is his daughter Hailey Abergail Mugisha.
And if we should perhaps worry about anything, then it is a silent temper you see taking cover behind his glass-like eyes. But a number of things seem to be on his side, including the day the reality show ends being his birthday – November 23. What a wonderful day to hit a jackpot!