Nakuya talks about Miss World

By Kalungi Kabuye

When she was declared winner of the Miss Uganda contest in August last year, and realised that she was going to the Miss World, Rehema Nakuya, Miss Uganda 2002/3, felt like her dreams had finally come true.

“All my life I really wanted to be near all that glitz and glamour that is Miss World, but I’d never dreamt that I would actually be part of it, to be one of the girls in it,” she told The New Vision. “So it was a good experience for me, very revealing but at the end a learning one.”

It does not matter that last year’s Miss World has been the most controversial in the pageant’s 50 year history. It was originally to be held in Nigeria, but it was overshadowed by the death-by-stoning sentence of Amina Lawal for having a child outside marriage.

Storms of protest arose all around the world, and several girls swore to boycott the event. At the end, amidst religious riots in Nigeria that left more than 200 people dead, the event was moved to London, and hurriedly held at the Alexandra Theatre.

“It was not like the previous ones, things were done differently and in a hurry,” Nakuya said. “Even the judging was hurried, they would not warn you and then tell you later that what you just did would be used in the judging. We did not know it, but by the time we got to the stage on December 7, all the judging had been done, and the organisers knew the top 20, the top 10, even the winner.”

Nevertheless, Nakuya enjoyed herself. She met hundreds of people from all over the world and made friends too.

“It was really very exciting to be there. If you choose not to enjoy something like that you lose out on a unique experience,” she said. “We got to meet many people, and the Nigerians we met were very nice people and very warm.”

The girls were shielded from the pressure of the Lawal riots that rocked northern Nigeria. They were several hundred miles away, and were not threatened for a single moment, although some news agencies reported the riots to be just a few miles from the hotel the girls were staying in.

So she enjoyed the rounds of cocktails, dinners, fund-raising events and sight seeing tours. She just went out to have fun.

But there were some down turns to it. She said while many of the girls were genuinely friendly, others were not, although they pretended to be. And she experienced some racism from the white-only organisation.

“Some girls were treated in a demeaning way, and others given a differential treatment,” she said. “Some of the girls complained, but things were hushed up.”

And they had to do their own make-up and hairstyling. Except on the last day when they had some help from some professionals.

They also had to bring their own gowns and outfits that were worn throughout the month they were there to the scores of functions they attended. Nakuya said most of the outfits were paid for by Sylvia Owori, and herself for the rest.

Of course there was the disappointment of not winning. But Rehema Nakuya says it was worth it all. “Of course I’m not disappointed, why should I be? I got the chance to represent my country, which is something big. I got my wish and had my time, now it is time to move on.”