Grace Msalame on the official poster of the Miss Curvy Uganda contest. PHOTO | COURTESY
Things are not going as planned for the Ministry of Tourism in its campaign to showcase Uganda as the sanctuary for curvy women.
In an embarrassing goof, the organisers of the Miss Curvy contest decided Uganda has no good-enough curvy women and picked Kenya’s media personality Grace Msalame as the official face of pageant.
Ugandans have been left scratching their heads at the choice made by senior government officials.
But in a quick response, Msalame tweeted that she is unaware of the campaign and that her legal team is handling the matter. This is after she received numerous inquiries on whether she knew of the campaign.
#MissCurvyUganda2019 My lawyers have served you as well. pic.twitter.com/fIy9IPfqmr
— Grace S Msalame (@GraceMsalame) February 7, 2019
She later issued a statement through her twitter handle stating that her image and likeliness were used without her permission.
“I take great exception to the fact that my image and likeness are being used to propagate, disseminate and encourage the objectification of women’s bodies. I do not endorse or agree with such a message,” her statement reads in part.
Msalame says she is currently pursuing legal action and remedies against Miss Curvy Uganda contest.
“Miss Curvy Uganda’s deliberate and calculated use of my image and likeliness to promote and encourage violation of women’s bodies has defamed my character and reputation, damaged a brand I have worked for many years to establish, and subjected me to unwarranted and undeserved cyber bullying.”
