Jerusha Muwanguzi smiles after she’s crowned Miss ISBAT
At university level, being a brand ambassador isn’t about how handsome or beautiful you are. It comes down to the heart and mind to think, how you cooperate with other students and the administration, be knowledgeable about your institution, exercise integrity and be effective and intelligent in day to day life.
These were some of the aspects around which the Mr and Miss ISBAT University 2023/24 contest grand finale was about. There were 12 contestants and 12 finalists for the crown from auditions that took place on April 29 2023 at the university. Being the first edition, a chance was given to every contestant to make it to the finals that took place last evening at the university campus at Kololo in Kampala.
The contestants were profiled on a well-lit and decorated white stage. They were subjected to talent presentations in casual wear, cultural and creative wear and evening gown and dinner wear. Apart from competing for the same crown, for entertainment, some of the contestants participated in miming, such as Micheal Akugizibwe who mimed his name sake, Micheal Kitanda’s Naki song, before performance by Crysto Panda who was the guest artiste of the day.
After profiles and performances in various categories, a five-judge panel took the contestants through a question and answer session that was tied to the contestant’s intelligence and reasoning. How the contestants answered the questions determined their score, with each with two minutes to answer a question.
The last challenge of the contest saw each contestant pick a random number written on a paper from a raffle box, with the number question read out to them by the judges. The questions were specific to the university and its administration.
After approximately 40 minutes of tallying scores, the second runner-up in the king’s category was Micheal Akugizibwe and the first runner-up was Ssali Remmy Kiggundu before Joshua Bahebwa won the Mr ISBAT category.
In the queen’s, Rebecca Namutebi was the second runner-up with an average score of 82.0, followed by Penny Naigaga as the first runner-up with 87.2, and Jerusha Muwanguzi as the winner with an average score of 88.0. The winners and first and second runners-up walked away with cash prizes, while the other contestants took home gift hampers from MTN Pulse that was one of the event sponsors.
Manzi Kagina who was one of the judges said the reason contestants had little knowledge about social issues was because they don’t read.
“If you want to be a leader, read as much as you can to be aware of what’s happening around the world. Secondly, it is not easy to speak in public but you have an opportunity to speak every day in your classes. If you have never spoken in class, you may not manage to speak elsewhere. Use the opportunity in class to speak before your colleagues to gain the confidence to speak before the public,” Kagina urged the contestants and other students.
Jayzania Komukyeya, the deputy guild president at ISBAT University said the role of the winners is to be brand ambassadors of the university internally and externally.
rnasasira@ug.nationmedia.com