Prof. Mariam Ndagire?

It’s not the kind of thing that you can purchase; it doesn’t even come with an exchange or refund option – we’re talking about luck, whether it’s good or bad!
But Mariam Ndagire must be happy having the good fate.
She is a respected singer/playwright/actresses and nowadays she is called a “professor” after being selected by Makerere Business Institute (MBI) to head their new department of Performing Artists.
The MBI proprietor, Nathan Tumwesigye said he chose Ndagire given that she is “talented and well behaved.”
Besides lecturing, Ndagire also decides on the syllabus of the department and she has been upbeat about the new roles.
“I’ve never gone to school to become a professor but today I’m in the job of a professor and I believe I deserve it,” she said. “Now I just want to work hard as a professor and help MBI and all performing artistes of Uganda to develop this industry.”

Buchaman unhappy with Chameleone

Uganda is probably as familiar with the rivalry of Leone Island and Firebase Crew as it is with the national anthem. If not more so.
However, the rivalry seems to have taken a somewhat comical twist with Buchaman claiming that Chameleone wants to “steal” the disabled people’s property.
We overheard Buchaman telling friends that Chameleone should stop walking on clutches because “he’s not lame anymore.”
In his own words, Buchaman said: “That guy (Chameleone) healed long time ago but he’s still using clutches to make people think he’s lame. True, he was lame but for a few months. It is high time he abandoned those sticks. I have seen him walk with Sam Gombya and let me hope they don’t want to connive and steal our things. You know Chameleone is such a shrewd guy, he might come out as Member of Parliament for the Disabled yet there are people like us who have been lame for decades and should be benefiting.”
No comment!

Miss Makerere won what?

Controversy in beauty pageants in Uganda is almost more famous than the beauty queens themselves.
And it seems like that situation is just expanding even more as far as news from the Miss Makerere camp is concerned.
Our Sherlocks tells us that the pageant’s winner, Winnie Nantumbwe and the two runners-up Sandra Nakanja and Peris Wanjiku haven't gotten the prizes they were promised by the organisers.
Nantumbwe was supposed to drive home, from the venue, in a brand new Toyota Premio but left the venue without her prize.
The organisers gave the excuse that they were still clearing a few things and would give the girls their prizes in 48 hours but it never came to pass until the third week after the pageant had taken place - moreover with not exactly the promised prizes.
Besides the Premio, Nantumbwe was also supposed to get a computer plus free salon sessions plus a holiday visit to Kalangala Islands. First runner-up Nakanja and second runner-up Wanjiku would both get a trip to Mombasa plus a computer each.
When Rafshizzle contacted her, Nantumbwe was quite reluctant to speak and said: “I would prefer having my lips shut on this. But of course they’ve not given us the prizes they promised us. They’ve been postponing the date of prize-giving until this week when they called us and gave us some old stuff. They gave me an old laptop pentium 3, it even has a provisional for a floppy. I can't use it! Then Sandra was given an outdated PC and it refused to work, the mouse on it is very old. Peris got a 14-inch TV with no receipt to show that it's new. They said they can't give me a car because I might sell it - that they will give me free tuition for a year due next year and I'm hoping that it comes to pass.”
Umm, as usual - beauty pageants tipping us over the edge!

Dr Sentamu, preaches patriotism in UK

President Museveni had better give Reverend Dr John Sentamu a call...
Can there be a better patriot than one who stands in front of whites and tells them of how proud he is with his heritage?
The 97th Archbishop of York, Metropolitan of the province of York, and Primate of England has been teaching the British about patriotism.
Dr Sentamu, who is the second most senior cleric in the Church of England said: “Some English people don’t like to say anything about their heritage, for fear of upsetting newcomers. My question to them is simple: Why do you think we came here? There is something very attractive about the UK. As a boy in Uganda, I was taught by British missionaries, just as foreigners brought the Christian faith to England and the rest of the UK, so British foreigners handed on the baton to me, my family and my forebears. All I am doing is reminding the English of what they taught me. To be patriotic is to appreciate and be grateful for all that is valuable in the country you live in.”
Preach!

Roger’s movie scoops two AMMAs

Indeed the future of the Ugandan film industry is bright, at least if the success Kina-Ugandas are starting to get is anything to go by.
Several local movies have performed tremendously at international film festivals and awards events.
The latest movie to shine on the international scene is Roger Mugisha’s movie Battle of the Souls.
The movie won in two categories at the Africa Movie Academy Awards held in Nigeria on Saturday.
The movie won the Best Achievement in Sound Effects award and its actor Joel Okuyo Prynce scooped the award of Outstanding Male Actor in a supporting role.
Prynce, who acted as the devil in the movie, was in Nigeria to accept his accolade.
The Academy founded on the best film tradition, is geared towards research, training and propagating film making in Africa. Behind it are film producers, directors, designers, writers, critics and scholars who share a similar belief of developing the African film industry.
AMAA is thus conceptualised as an annual celebration of the brightest and the best in African movie.

Video school for Uganda

LIKE THIS: Mr Fournier speaks to Rafshizzle.

The Abanunule film took him three years to finish and now Alex Fournier is venturing into something quite different.
The Minnesota-based film director, who is working on his second Ugandan film, also plans to open a video school in Uganda by the start of 2010.
We had a natter with the filmmaker and he revealed: “I’ve found a gap in video making. From the camera man to the editor of the picture, everything is second-rate. It’s even embarrassing that most TV camera men don’t know how to capture pictures. These people either didn’t go for training or they went to the wrong institutes. I want to help out.”
He said the school would also train people in acting, filmmaking and production.
“When I got here, I said, ‘what an amazing place’ and up to now I don’t understand why the film industry is not growing,” he said, “But now I’ve realised there’s just lack of quality in filmmaking here but Uganda has some of the best stories, best character and best sites for movie.”
Who knows, maybe the school will open many people’s eyes...