By Ahmad Muto
Dancehall singer A Pass on Sunday, August 22, 2021 took a dig at the local media, particularly the audio visual, accusing them of being solely responsible for the creation of a word he used rather loosely, ‘celebrities.’ He claims they are not worthy of the airtime they are being given, but it surprises him that they influence society and people gravitate towards them.
“Ugandan TV and media has created stupid celebrities, people get recognised for being stupid and for doing nothing, but talk nonsense and it is funny how some of you look at these people as role models. Role models for what!” he tweeted.
Well, a huge fraction of Ugandans on Twitter (UoT) agreed with the singer stating that they have observed it for a while, some have since quit entirely or reduced on how much local content they consume off local TVs. He said the quality of guests and opinion leaders sought, even on topics beyond their areas of knowledge is astounding. Jennifer ‘Full Figure’ Nakangubi, Andrew ‘Bajjo’ Mukasa and Wisdom Kaye were mentioned the most though many assumed A Pass was firing at Zahara Totto.
XFM’s Denzel Mwiyeretsi replied that A Pass’ submission is shallow: “This goes past Uganda #CashMeOutside #GorrilaGlueGirl etc.”
Daniel Bregoli of “Cash me outside” rose to fame after her appearance on Dr. Phil’s show in 2016 when she was 13-years-old. While being interviewed about stealing her mother’s car, she told the audience to “catch (her) outside” which meant she wanted a fight. Months later “Catch me outside” went viral on the internet. Later she launched a music career and received a Billboard Award nomination. She also started a merchandise line that became a success.
Nation Media’s Dagy Nyce felt A Pass just wanted to attack the media because in his opinion, it cuts across. “Hehe. Same politics. People vote the most unexpected people to represent the nation in Parliament over the capable and qualified largely because of humour,” he replied.
Faridah Nakazibwe replied: “Role models for stupid people of course.”
If the tweet was aimed at Zahara Totto as it is being claimed, then Nakazibwe’s reaction is aptly constructed. Last year, at the onset of live weekend night music TV show, she picked Lynda Ddane over Totto saying she gets her clothes from a mivumba (second hand clothes) guy downtown. Totto fired back, calling Nakazibwe an old woman among other things.
