Leah Kagasa On ‘Slay Queens’, Her Two-Year Reign and If Miss Uganda is Still Relevant

After a two-year reign, Leah Kagasa is ready to hand over her Miss Uganda crown, but she’s certainly not done queening. She tells Satisfashion UG about how she has made it work and the life after Miss Uganda she can’t wait for.

One thing stands out – Leah Kagasa, 23, one of the most graceful, soft-spoken and down-to-earth beauty queens we’ve had in recent years, is even more beautiful in person than what you see in the press. Her smile is one that’s honest and her skin is amazingly flawless. But, there’s more to this beauty than meets the eye.

We’re sitting upstairs of one of the cottages at Capitol Palace Hotel, located in the leafy neighborhood of Naguru in Kampala. The lush gardens at the hotel and cool breeze flowing in and out of the room is somewhat romantic. It is boot camp, so there’s a group of not less than seven young ladies being mentored by a representative from Kezzi Entertainment in the room adjacent to ours. I later learn that the girls are attending a business class.

Kagasa is dressed in a rose-red off-the-shoulder top and a pair of black skinny jeans. Her enviably black natural hair is interestingly messy. She and other members of the Miss Uganda Foundation had an appearance on NBS TV’ popular Friday show Katchup last evening, plus a few other public engagements and it’s evident they had a huge toll on her. That’s just the other evening though.  She’s left with only two weeks as Miss Uganda, but nothing on her shows that she’s about to relieve herself of the title.

“I’ve been prepared for this exact moment for months. Same time last year, I was ready to handover. When I was informed that it wasn’t going to happen and that there would be a revamp, I kept the crown. So, I’ve been prepared for it,” she admits. “I’m excited to see another girl get the crown and enjoy this experience as well. I can’t wait to be her big sister. And, I also can’t wait to start the next chapter of my life.”

It’s been a whole year of waiting. Will there be another Miss Uganda crowning? Is the pageant over? Would Leah be Miss Uganda forever? Ugandans have been asking. But as we were, because we always do, the team at Kezzi Entertainment, this time in partnership with Talent Africa have been behind the scenes planning. The wait is finally over and we’re about to experience the most exciting return of Miss Uganda yet. If what they’ve already done is anything to go by. The events leading up to the finale have been glamorous while the girls are unbelievably smart and intelligent.

Has the revamp stalled Kagasa’s life doing for another year what she had planned to do in only a year? “Absolutely not,” she confesses. “This role is an exciting learning experience, but that doesn’t mean it’s limiting. If I hadn’t become Miss Uganda, I would be living the life of an ordinary 23-year-old Kampala girl. That to me is already a huge blessing. So, I can do this all over again if there was an opportunity to be Miss Uganda again.”

Some of the things she has learned include; “of course a lot of patience to live and interact with people you barely know, building networks and being confident and poised, just like a lady.” However, what makes her reign special is that she has had to get a double dose of it all. “A blessing in disguise it has been. I’ve had to extend my impact. We visited more schools and did more charity work. That to me is everything,” she shares.

Holding the crown for more than a year is no small feat though. She has had a fair share of challenges. “Last year many young ladies were in my inbox asking about how they would contest wondering why I had had the crown for more than a year,” she shares. “That wasn’t even an issue, but the media always following you around for answers if there would be another beauty queen after me.”

What always kept her going is the fact that she wanted to be Miss Uganda since she was a child. “I remember it was 2001, I was 5 years old. I saw this really beautiful woman wearing a crown on the front page of a newspaper at home. I told my mum then, I wanted to be that woman too. I told her that I wanted to one day be Miss Uganda,” she shares with a grin perhaps because of the nostalgia. Just like all the many childhood dreams and aspirations, it fizzled out shortly after.

After her secondary school education in 2013, she came to Kampala from Fort Portal where she had lived all her life. Just like many young girls with a pretty face and a lithe body, she tried a bit of modelling. When Miss Tourism came calling, she gave it a shot until the final stage where finalists had to leave for boot camp. Her parents were quick to ask her to pull out because they thought it would be a challenge juggling pageantry with school. They preferred that she contested after university. She obliged and pulled out shelving her dream of being a beauty queen yet again.

In 2016, after writing her final exams at university, she contested, this time for Miss Uganda. “It’s one of those things that were on my to-do list at the time. And, if I didn’t do it then, it was going to be shelved forever,” she shares. “I had no job or responsibilities and pressures, so there was no other time I was more suited to do it.”

The support she received from friends and family was overwhelming. “My parents were very supportive. I remember my dad would ask his students (her father is an Art teacher and mother is a Home Economics teacher) to go to the computer lab and vote for me. My mother was always on the phone sharing words of encouragement.” She eventually emerged winner and walked away with a brand new car at a glamorous event held in October 2016. She later represented Uganda at Miss World, an experience she describes as ‘life changing’.

Since 1967, Miss Uganda has been part and parcel of Kampala’s social calendar, the gala event is always a high brow function attended by A-list personalities and public figures. Former winners have gone on to become influential personalities in society for example; Miss Uganda 1992 Olga Nampiima who is now a renowned makeup artist and beautician in the UK, Miss Uganda 1990 Jessica Kyeyune organised the pageant for some time, Miss Uganda 2003 Aysha Nassanga represented Uganda at Face of Africa in 2005 where she was a quarter finalist and Miss Uganda 2007 Monica Kasyate who is now a designer under her own brand Monix Couture.

Just like all things, the relevance of the pageant has been under question in recent years. In 2018, a point in time where things move really fast, scandals escalate faster than usual because of social media and so, maintaining a ‘squeaky clean image’ is close to impossible especially if you’re dealing with young digitally savvy millennials, the pageant is set to go through even tougher times. However, Brenda Nanyonjo, the CEO of Miss Uganda, is confident that they are ready to sail through it all smoothly. “Just like we’ve done over the years,” she muses.

Instagram ‘slay queens’ and influencers are the new celebrities, and young ladies can access guidance and mentorship from all corners of the internet. Right now it is easier to become famous. When posed with the question of whether Miss Uganda is still relevant, Kagasa replies confidently in the affirmative.

“Besides being part of something that’s embedded in our history, Miss Uganda models ‘role models’. It doesn’t matter whether you win or not, what you take from here is infinite. Those young ladies in the next room are in a business class right now. In 2016, 2015 and 2014 contestants received training in agriculture. We were taught that getting ourselves or this country out of poverty was only possible if we got our hands dirty,” she shares. “I have a passion fruit farm back home in Fort Portal. I’m confident that very soon it’s going to be a huge source of income for my family and myself. That’s something you can’t achieve because you have so many followers on Instagram. I’m not against Instagram celebrities, but they make it seems so easy to achieve yet it’s not. All that you see is a complete façade, just filters and heavy makeup!”

She goes ahead to share with me how she got her first job in Kampala after reaching out to Lucy Chihandae, then a news anchor on UBC TV. “I told her that I needed a job when I move to Kampala for my S6 vacation. She got me an opportunity. And, that’s how I came to Kampala, that’s how I got into modelling and then Miss Uganda. She inspired me so much, that’s why I reached out. I strive to be ‘that’ to many other young ladies.

Kagasa was also the first Miss Uganda from Kabarole, something the people in the district still enjoy talking about. Because of the pride she brought to Batooro, she’s treated like a queen every time she visits home. “Up to now that holds a special place in my heart,” she confesses.

Some of the projects she has done during her two-year reign include; a clean water campaign with UNAA Causes, Kick Malaria out of Uganda with Ministry of Health, a Teenage Pregnancy awareness campaign, Keep the girl child in school and many more.

The Marketing graduate describes herself as a big dreamer. In 2011 she joked to her friends that she would travel the world. At only 21 she was already living the life many Ugandan girls her age only dream about; traveling the world, enjoying the perks of being a celebrity and attending a flight attendant course which she later completed successfully. Kagasa believes she has had it all and is ready for the next chapter of her life. She doesn’t have a plan on what’s next, but one thing she’s sure she’s going to do is to continue preaching the gospel of self believe and confidence among young people, especially ladies. A You Tube channel has already been opened in that regard.  She’s also not done ‘queening’. “I’m still going to continue working with the Miss Uganda Foundation. You never leave actually. You have to be around to mentor the new queen.”

A few weeks ago Miss Uganda Foundation was under fire over a video on social media that appeared to have depicted that their judges are ‘mean bullies’ who mocked one of the contestants because she couldn’t pronounce ‘Makerere’ right. When I ask Kagasa what her take is on this, she’s quick to defend the judges.

“When I introduce myself as Kagasa from Uganda, and pronounce Makerere as ‘Makerele’ then something isn’t adding up. There’s no place in Uganda called ‘Makerele’. The judges were trying to help her understand that yes, you can speak with an accent, but pronounce names and places right if you’re Ugandan, and one from Central Uganda to be exact. It was taken out of context. We need to take pride in who we are as Ugandans. That’s what Miss Uganda is all about.”

The finale of Miss Uganda 2018 is slated to hold this Friday 1oth August at Sheraton Kampala Hotel.

 This interview has been edited and condensed

Photographed by Guilio Molfese

Dress by NFKA Clothing

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