The organisers of Miss Umeme Tanzania,
Dar-based event promoters VIP (Latrines) Ltd, have strongly denied that
corruption was involved in this year’s competition. Tanzanian social media are
full of claims that Ms Paulina Fatma Pinduzi, popularly known as ‘Pap’, who won
last month’s competition, forged her Tanzanian passport in order to qualify. In
fact, it appears that she was born in Nairobi, Kenya. In a press conference
held in VIP (Latrines) Dar es Salaam office yesterday, spokesman and long-time Miss
Umeme organiser Mr J B Rungumalaya strongly denied any wrongdoing: “There is no
truth whatsoever in the rumour that Ms PAP does not deserve the Miss Umeme
crown,” he claimed, looking agitated. When asked by journalists to comment on
Ms Pap’s Kenyan passport, a copy of which was posted on BongoForum’s website
last week, Rungumalaya claimed: “This document is a forgery concocted by my
enemies to rob me of the Ms Umeme franchise, which I have enjoyed for the last
20 years. Ms Pinduzi is Tanzanian born and bred. And by the way, I have
incurred debts of USD 75 million to put on this very successful show, which is
not vigisenti”, he fumed, claiming
that most of the money had already been spent in promoting the event.
A finger of suspicion also points
at the judges of the Miss Umeme 2014 competition, consisting of Dr Bono
Nduluti, Chairman of the Federal Bank of the Middle East (FBME), Dr Saltpetre Mwongo,
Minister of Regular Power Shortages (MRPS) and Dr Hanna Tabia Choka, Minister
of Land Grabbing and Human Resettlement (MLGHR). Why, critics claim, did the judges not check
Ms PAP’s credentials, which had been rumoured suspect months before the contest
took place. None was available for comment by the time of going to press. Dr
Choka has already expressed her support for VIP (Latrines) promoter Rugumalaya,
pooh-poohing the idea that corruption was involved in the Ms Umeme competition.
If stripped of her Ms Umeme crown,
Ms Pap will be barred from representing Tanzania in the forthcoming Miss Umeme Universe
competition. She may also have to repay the TShs 200 billion she received in
prize money from the competition’s sponsors and may have to return the 100 MW
genset generously donated by MeckMark (East Africa) Ltd. Other sponsors of the competition include
Tanzanian Taxpayers Ltd (TTL, an NGO), Standard Charitable Banking (HK) Ltd
(SCB-HK), the International Independent Budget Support Group (IIBSG) Ltd., and
Bold Wank Ltd (BW), a consortium of investors promoting Public-Private
Partnerships (PPP) in the African beauty contest industry. (SCB-HK have already
denounced the contest as a hoax and are demanding that the pageant’s organisers
return their money).
Contacted by this newspaper, a
spokesperson for the Miss Umeme Universe organisers, the International
Consortium for the Selection of Interesting Dollybirds (ICSID) said: “We are
watching events in Tanzania closely: without a rapid resolution to this affair it is unlikely that Ms Umeme Tanzania will be
eligible to participate in the global event for an extended period.”
The Tanzanian parliament is
expected to discuss the Miss Umeme crisis in the forthcoming parliamentary
session. Opposition Member of Parliament
Kobe Mzito has been at the forefront in condemning Pap’s victory in the Miss
Umeme Competition, claiming a conspiracy involving VIP (Latrines) Ltd and Ms
PAP’s backers. “If this is a harbinger of how the Ms Umeme beauty pageants are
going to be managed in future, then the beauty pageant industry will bring this
country to its knees,” he said in an exclusive interview. “If VIP/PAP can get away with this fraudulent
contest, then we can expect more of the same going forward.”
Source: Guest Boozer
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