Minister Kiwanda’s Miss curvy initiative receives backlash from public

A move by the Tourism ministry to include curvy women as tourism attractions for Ugandan has not augured well with the public who have scoffed at its organisers.

On Tuesday, State Minister for Tourism, Godfrey Kiwanda unveiled an initiative in which curvy and sexy Ugandan women will now be listed as some of the items to attract tourists to the Pearl of Africa.

“We have naturally endowed nice looking women that are amazing to look at. Why don’t we use these people as a strategy to promote our tourism,”Kiwanda said.

However, both Kiwanda and the initiative had received a backlash from members of the public especially on social media who blasted the minister.

“As a woman activist, I am very disappointed by the approach the minister is using to promote tourism through exposing women’s body parts to attract tourists,” said one Zeridah Kakayi on facebook.

A number of people said it is only a sign of moral decadency for the Minister to start using curvy women as tourist attractions.

“Uganda has now turned into a country where a Minister of Tourism has declared curvy women a tourist attraction reducing them to animals that should be lined for leisure and amusement of tourists. This means that tourists should come to stare and stalk Ugandan women at a fee,” tweeted one Sarah Bireete, a women activist.

“The minister is a short thinker. He should be resisted. There are many projects he can think of as tourist sites. Miss Curvy is misplaced in the 21st century. Can he allow his wife to participate or his sister,” one Israel Turyasingura responded.

Kasambya County MP Gafa Mbwatekamwa also joined members of the public who mocked the idea of using curvy women as a tourist attraction.

“One of the reasons he could be promoting sex tourism is that he has a shot in Kikuubo dealing in products for curvy women,”Mbwatekamwa told journalists at parliament.

A number of memes and a hashtag have been created by the public on social media especially mocking the idea of using curvy women to promote Uganda’s tourism.