The Miss Curvy pageant organisers and contestnats pose for a group photo with Speaker Rebecca Kadaga at Parliament on February 27, 2019. PHOTOS BY DAMALI MUKHAYE
Contestants and organisers of Miss Curvy pageant on Wednesday stormed Parliament to petition Speaker Rebecca Kadaga causing excitement among some Parliament staff and journalists who had gathered to cover the event.
The pageant organisers led by Ms Anne Mungoma, its chief executive and a number of curvy women said to be some of the contestants stormed Parliament at around 12.30pm and left many staring and wondering what was happening at the August House.
The speaker’s boardroom was filled to capacity as the curvy queens met Ms Kadaga.
The organizers said they had petitioned Ms Kadaga to correct the misconception that the pageant was about sex after the Speaker on Monday protested the use of women bodies to promote tourism.
In her address, Ms Kadaga told the organisers to go ahead with the event saying she had misinterpreted the whole idea.
“I misunderstood the pageant after the protest it faced from the public but now that I have understood what it’s about, it is okay. You can go ahead and organize the event,” Ms Kadaga said as the beauty queens cheered.
Ms Mungoma said more than 200 curvy women have registered to take part in the beauty contest.
She further noted that the pageant would proceed as originally planned in spite of misgivings by a cross-section of Ugandans, including some religious figures.
According to the organisers, the event had been misinterpreted or misrepresented by those opposed to it.
“Miss Curvy is a beauty pageant that is organised internationally to recognise curvaceous women, and not slim women, since many people have failed to get the real definition of Miss Curvy contest,” she said.
The campaign whose finals are scheduled in June this year will cater for curvaceous women, aged 18 to 35.