Former Miss Uganda Dora Mwima finally gets apology from local tabloid, 2 years on. Dora’s hubby made the revelation on Facebook where he made a lengthy post:
“Finally!! Finally we gained an apology from Kampala Sun!! point of correction though, you posted the original story in 2013 not 2014 … I think very few people will remember why they are apologizing and for what, actually people in those cases usually read such posts and just move on so quickly to the next article… for that not to happen let me tell u the story! (I promise I will do it better than most tabloid writers though!)(My English grammar won’t be better though…):
It all started In September 2013 when I got engaged to Dorah, Now some of you might know how the tabloids “world” really work in Uganda, if not, let me enlighten you: the tabloids writers have targets to achieve, meaning in a month a writer has to present a number of stories… u got it guys? So next time you read about “how that artist told another artist that his son is the smartest …” or “his shoes are way better” or “that smoking hot babe (usually ugly) left guys horny in a club” – (wow that is really a story we should all lose time to read!) … anyway, you will know by now why you are reading such amazingly meaningless silly articles….
Let me get back to my story! I usually tend to get lost in my own thoughts… So obviously with our engagement, some writers were happy with such news! “Oh yeah!! Now I can write like 4 stories for that same single story!! Today about the engagement story, tomorrow about “how city guys are angry she isn’t single anymore”, after tomorrow a look at their past, then after another story about how their parents are feeling” (that was a tabloid writer talking or thinking to himself)…
So some stories started coming from here & there… some stories were funny, like some guy who wants to give credibility to his story will use “sources”… “A family Source told us” really dude??? My family? Ehhh… the ones that don’t live in Uganda? or the ones that never heard about you?? or another dude would use “Professional sources” : our corporate source from Lebanon… lol… dude you have offices in Lebanon also? That was funny… (Still is…)
Until that time it was still ok, funny, stupid but still harmless stories… then after some days, some Silly tabloid writer started to think to himself again : “ok now, finish with the engagement, we need to make something better, am still below my monthly target ….hmmmm… ok this guy Barrak I know him, oh yeah I remember! He had a girlfriend who broke up with like 2 years before the engagement….i even wrote about it!: “how Barrak moved on and even dating other women!!”…hmmmm (again he is still humming)… ok ok I got it!!!! Why not say that Dorah stole him from that ex??? Ohhh great!!! Obviously I will forget about that period of 2 years where he moved on and won’t even mention it… Ohhhh that will bring us a whole 2 new weeks of stories!!, that ex will even now go into the fight!!!!! AMAZING!! BRILLIANT!!! Am amazing (still talking to himself) …More STORIES!!!!”
And it started!! What was funny and stupid stories started now to be fights on tabloids & fabricated stories… during that time, me & Dorah were enjoying our engagement, we actually decided to ignore & not to write or say anything: It will pass we thought, it will be a couple of days before they catch a celebrity nude pictures or video… nope! It seemed that tabloids were racing on which one to write the shittiest but more attractive story!!! It went from “Nader Parents not blessing the marriage” to “Dorah Lying to my parents” (Dorah talked Lebanese language it seems), to “relationship now shaken and we are going to break up”! …then, out of nowhere, Kampala Sun joined the race!! I respect the fact it is part of Vision Group, like Bride & Groom were very good to us, Dorah was on the front cover and they wrote a very nice story about our marriage in 2014… but I don’t know what is wrong with Kampala Sun? Shame! A single bad kid can ruin a whole family reputation…
Anyway, Kampala Sun came late to the race so it wanted to come with a “Bang”!!! & it did!!! So without any minimal “asking around” or doing just a basic investigation, or even calling us, or trying to communicate to us through social media, message… (who needs to be professional when leading a tabloid story right?)… Kampala Sun decided that in order to sell more, they don’t need to respect the truth, or at least a part of it or even a tiny small part of it…nah!! Who cares???? This is tabloids!! People like “Shining titles”! Let’s put the former Miss Uganda on the front page of the weekly tabloid (worse! It stays in shops for seven whole days for everyone in Uganda to see…) with a big title of “ POLICE HUNT EX-MISS UGANDA”… next to her was a smaller picture of Dr. Jose Chameleone… it didn’t help that he is the most famous singer in East Africa…. Nope! For that special week, my wife should be the most famous…
Now if anyone wondering why my wife’s was bald in the pic… it is because at that time she was in the peak of her Cancer campaign… it wasn’t important I guess at that time! just a 23 year old lady trying to do something for charity & cancer in Uganda, not because she has to do it, but because she WANTS & LOVES to do it .. cos she believes she can make maybe a small difference… I remember very well that by that time she was signing a contract to bring “MEAGAN GOOD” to Uganda for the Cancer charity campaign… just some Hollywood actress who accepted to come to Uganda as a Push to the campaign (who cares right?)… (You see? I told u I will write better stories than some tabloid writers… talk about exclusive news…!) … So now imagine (thanks to Kampala Sun) how it helped my wife’s campaign…! U couldn’t imagine? Fine here’s a hint: my wife is meeting some potential sponsors to bring MEAGAN GOOD (she has to come to Uganda, meaning you have to arrange tickets, hotel reservations, cars, transport…., & while meeting some sponsor there is a tabloid newspaper on the desk… & the sponsor is like: Cancer charity campaign? Aha… do the police know you are here? Lol… I think you get the point…
Fast forward (i doubt with the size of that post), that brought us to Court, honestly it wasn’t a difficult case to win: a judge & our lawyer asking the editor: “so? On which information/proof/evidence/police report/statement/anything? You based that title?” … “ehhhh…hmmmm (the humming was kinda different than the one used before in the story)… bbebbbb(stuttering noise)”… ok case won!!
I think after writing a big post, & if anyone is still following or still interested (other than my wife, lol)I should conclude with a moral or something I guess? “Don’t do to othe… “No it doesn’t work here, lol… I could address the celebrities and socialists that got “screwed” by lies… U CAN REALLY DO SOMETHING! We won the case, we got some money (don’t ask, my wife said I should not say how much…lol) and we got an apology (even very late or even it is a small apology on the second page while the story was on the Front page)… so when you see us driving our new car, say Thank you Kampala Sun!! We stayed quiet about it for 2 years, but with that WIN, I Say Bring it on!!!! Who cares about apology you gonna type 2 years later! I still have many things to buy on tabloids expense!!”
BigEyeUg Staff