Joan Nambaziira from Buluuli County was crowned 2025 Miss Tourism Buganda. PHOTO/TONY MUSHOBOROZI
The way the Miss Tourism beauty pageant is set up is that every region of the country holds a pageant to choose their queen. Winners from West Nile, Bunyoro, Ankole, Busoga, Tooro, Karamoja, Ruwenzori, Teso, South (Kigezi), Eastern (Tororo, Busia), Northern (Acholi, Lango) and Buganda later participate in the grand finale where the ultimate beauty queen emerges to take the Miss Tourism Uganda crown.
These regional competitions are organised by former participants that understand not just pageantry but their respective regions.
As expected, these regional competitions are steeped in cultural nuances specific to the regions. They reflect the varied and subtle ways each region looks at beauty and femininity so that (at least this is the idea) the pool at the grand finale represents the country’s general idea of beauty. The music performances, the dances, and general entertainment at these glitzy events are region-specific. The competitors must not just be beautiful, they must also have deep knowledge of their region and language, their cultural norms and traditions, local tourism sites and so on.
But Miss Tourism Buganda takes it a notch higher for obvious reasons.
2025 pageant
On Friday May 13, all roads led to Hotel Africana in Kampala for Miss Tourism Buganda pageant. Doors opened at 2pm. Family members and friends of the competitors were the first to enter. Many had come equipped with vuvuzelas, whistles, potable drums and all manner of paraphernalia that would be used to morale boost for their girl.
As the attendees trickled in, the participants were on the big runway rehearsing their performances, polishing up their presentations.
Contestants dance together in lockstep on the 2025 Miss Tourism Buganda crowing night. PHOTO/TONY MUSHOBOROZI
Final touches needed to be put on their speeches, a crucial part of the competition that tests their confidence, oratory skills and general rapport.
The girls also needed to master the outlines of runway that would be their workstation for the entire evening, charting out the entry and exit points, the position of the spotlights and getting used to the surface.
For close to two hours, the trainer, a Greek god of a man (he must have been partly hired for his looks, to inspire the girls), gave the girls pep talks to polish up their catwalk skills, their poise and their speech.
The moment they had dreamt of was upon them and they needed to show themselves worthy. Many of the girls were barely in their 20s. It goes without saying that standing on this big stage, under big lights, in front of big crowds trying to convince them about their plans if they win is as frightening as can be. It is the deep end for them.
Their life experiences are close to none. On top of that, speaking with the awareness that every word is being judged by a panel of judges is tough business. But that is part of the fire they must be tested by. From the first day they enter boot camp three weeks prior to this night, the girls are required to wake up really early to go jogging. This is meant to enhance their physical fitness and stamina needed for the tough business that is pageantry.
They are trained in skills like cat-walking in ultra-high heels, personal branding, etiquette and public speaking. Beauty pageants are no cup of tea. It is like military training but for confidence and sophistication. Which is why participating in it is worth the time even when the crown goes to someone else.
Okulanya
The girls must not just show poise and panache, they must also showcase their special talents and a good grasp of their language and culture. And in the case of Miss Tourism Buganda, they must present an elaborate self-introduction that is culturally known as okulanya. This is how you prove to the public, especially the Baganda elders, that you are a true Muganda.
For the uninitiated, okulanya is a Kiganda traditional custom where a person is not just expected to introduce themselves but their clan, their parents, grandparents, the village where several generations of their ancestors are buried, the seminal patriarch of the clan, the clan’s role in the Kabaka’s palace and other important cultural details.
Interestingly, while this is a complex exercise, the girls were right at home in this challenge, a testament to how well-engrained Buganda culture is. None of the 36 girls stuttered. Simply impressive.
Okulanya is so elaborate that it went on for close to two and a half hours to cover all the 36 participants.
Yet, the audience watched with the kind of pride and attention that is only reserved for thrilling theatrical productions.
That is how much this custom means to the Baganda.
Public speaking
The real challenge, however, was the public speaking. These pageants are generally looking for beauty with brains, and part of the way to judge someone’s intelligence is by hearing the ideas they espouse and how they relay them.
The girls spoke of their plans to use art to teach Buganda culture to children, others proposed AI to market Buganda’s cultural tourism better, while others proposed taking backcloth fashion to the next level. But what a challenge it was for many of them!
Public speaking is not easy especially if you are a 20-year-old girl standing in front of strangers. Some of it was understandably nails on a chalkboard. But the audience took it with grace.
Night’s highlight
The best moment of the night came when the girls came on stage to entertain the audience with traditional Kiganda dances. Seeing 36 beauties dancing together in lockstep was a pleasant spectacle. When that dance is baksimba, it is simply breathtaking. And because the house was full of cheering parents and newly-found fans, the traditional hit song, Okuzaala kujagaana was a must. And because this was an event that was showcasing Buganda culture, songs such as “Njagala nyimbile omutanda” were a must.
In that moment, the nerves loosed the girls. Everyone forgot they were competing with each other. In that moment they were all Baganda girls having fun. It was a moment of Buganda pride.
They were all daughters of the king in that moment, entertaining the guests. If they had not loosened up, if they were still timid and cold-feeted from the public speaking challenge, in that moment, they all regained themselves.
No one cared if they would win or not.
At least it appeared so. The moment was so uplifting that reigning Miss Tourism, Bianka Atino joined them on stage for a very short cameo. And boy, did she show them how it is done. Regal, big smile and great dance moves. Beautiful moment.
Bark cloth galore
If you thought they were in their skins dancing, you should have seen them during the fashion show, prancing about in their traditional attire. The designer pulled all the stops on this one. The concepts were fire. And varied. And nuanced. And meaningful.
The dresses told stories, often about the counties the girls came from. So someone from Buvuma County might wear a dress that has hints of fishnet, that tells stories about fishing. Aomeone from Kabula (Lyantonde) might showcase cattle keeping stories in her dress.
Elaborate does not come close to describing these attires.
It must be remembered that by the time of the fashion show, the girls had long lost their nervousness and they felt a lot more natural and truly enjoyed themselves.
The fashion show proved that Buganda has a long history of ingenious garments, top of which is bark cloth.
Other materials included sisal, colourful mukeeka and coffee beans.
One would not expect this session to be entertaining and exciting but it really was.
In all honesty, it is a mystery that not more people attend these events.
The crowning
Every challenge was so elaborate that it drugged on into the night, way past midnight.
That it took so long is the only flaw one could point at in the whole pageant.
Finally, as it was about to clock 2 am, after a particularly tough session of trivia about Buganda Kingdom tortured the poor girls, the top three beauties were chosen, and including a fourth one who won the crowd's love was hailed Vanisha Leticia Navvubya from Busujju Miss Popularity.
She won a land title from the kingdom.
Leticia Navvubya (C) from Busujju receives a land title at the 2025 Miss Tourism Buganda crowing night. PHOTO/TONY MUSHOBOROZI
Again, beauty pageants are not for the faint-hearted. At all.
The three top girls would go through a second round of questions to find the ultimate queen.
In the top three, your beauty won’t take you anywhere.
Only your brain and confidence.
They were tough questions about traditions and customs.
It’s like watching a kickboxing bout.
You feel bad for the fighters.
It doesn’t matter whether they are winning or losing.
Yet on some level, it is entertaining.
You are glued.
At 2.15 am, Joan Nambaziira from Buluuli county was crowned Miss Tourism Buganda.
The first runner-up would turn out to be Mercy Nabukenya from Kabula County and Vanisha Leticia Navvubya from Busujju took the third place.
It was an emotional moment for the girls and their families.
The queen would soon be led to the parking lot where the car she had just won was parked, a brand new white Toyota Ractis.
The three top girls (including Miss Popularity) had just automatically won a trip to the UK.
Having spent hours in that pageant, one left feeling like they had taken a crash course into Buganda’s illustrious history, traditions and culture.
And it was hard to not be left in awe of how well-organised this ancient nation is around their king and customs.
Other regional pageants
Other regions that have so far chosen their queens include Ankole where 23-year-old Anna Ahebwomugisha emerged winner on June 21, Southwest (Kigezi), where 21-year-old Lent Asiimwe emerged winner on June 20, and Tooro where Lydia Nyakake emerged winner on June 7.
All the others are still waiting to choose theirs starting with Northern which will happen in Lira on July 12.
Miss Tourism partnership
Midway all the pageants leading up to the grand finale on last year, Miss Tourism Uganda struck a landmark sponsorship deal with Egypt Air on June 19, aimed at showcasing Uganda’s rich cultural heritage and natural diversity while empowering young women across the country.
The collaboration seeks to promote tourism between Uganda and Egypt and increase air traffic between the two countries. According to the signed MOU, Miss Tourism will promote Egypt Air at its events, especially the national finale and highlight Egypt Air’s routes and services to and from Uganda.
Egypt Air on its part will provide 2 business-class tickets and 10 economy tickets allocated for the MTU team.
Six of the 10 economy tickets are to be issued by June 30 (tomorrow) and two economy tickets to be raffled during Miss Tourism events. The remainder will be distributed at MTU’s discretion.
