Moses Serugo
29 August 2008
The Ugandan housemate is not new to the limelight but the BBA3 reality show could be just the opportunity to propel the model-cum-actor to continental stardom, writes Moses Serugo from Johannesburg
Morris Herbert Mugisha's time in the Big Brother Africa 3 house has received mixed reactions from home and on the rest of the continent. Some are concerned that he is too quiet but a posting on the Oboma social networks lauded that as a good strategy- that of avoiding too much talk on non-issues. One thing the 29-year-old housemate will guarantee Ugandan DStv viewers is longevity after the show has wrapped up on November 23 and here is why.
Morris has mostly lived the showbiz life since completing his formal schooling at Makerere University. Upon acquiring a diploma in Music Dance and Drama in 2001, Morris joined Diamonds Ensemble, one of the leading theatrical outfits of the time as a stage actor. The young thespian could not have gotten better tutelage than from Kato Lubwama, a veteran actor whose craft is the lifeblood of CBS FM's Kalisoliso breakfast prime time sports show.
Not content with the world of theatre, Morris went back to Makerere to pursue a BA in Cinema Studies and Literature followed by a Diploma in TV and Radio Production from the Institute of Business and Media Studies in Old Kampala. His next acting conquest came in 2005 as a principal actor in Hand in Hand, a 13-part blue-collar-themed TV serial now showing on DStv's Africa Magic Plus channel (Mondays at 9.30a.m, 7p.m and 1.30a.m).
Morris played Rudolf, a city loafer who cons people into parting with their money promising to get them visas and the like. Morris' Ugandan showbiz profile also includes being a rump and editorial model with leading Ugandan fashionista Sylvia Owori's Zipa Modelling Agency.
His is one of the faces that stares down at shoppers at the entrance of Garden City and he was also one of the models of Warid Telecom's street billboard campaign. He is the lad sporting shades wearing a snow-white long-sleeved top and pants knotted at the waist with a cell-phone on his ear.
That he is also a photographer at Shutter Speed Studio on Rainbow Arcade shows a man of many showbiz hats and with the numerous showbiz opportunities now available on the continent, Africa's entertainment scene is for Morris to conquer.
Morris wants to pursue a Masters Degree soon and his desire to use Big Brother Africa to "elevate myself more in terms of my profession to tap into the international market" shows his foresight at not just spending crisp US dollars that may burn a hole in his pocket.
And in tearing himself away from the rest of the Big Brother Africa 3 pack at times, he is just following the best advice he ever received which was to choose his friends wisely. We can only hope that in Tanzania's Latoya, he has found a reliable pal while fostering an East African spirit.
And when this father of one daughter says he is straightforward about his dislikes of racism, war mongering, hypocrisy and failure, his is not mere rhetoric coming from a pretty boy. Morris impressed the two passengers he was sandwiched between in seat 18E aboard the South African Airways flight last Wednesday with his grasp of current affairs including the touchy subject of xenophobia as he ate a meal comprising an omelette, sausage, yoghurt and fruit. He sure loves his beauty sleep (or he was bored by the in-flight entertainment) if the power nap he had on the plane is anything to go by.
He also exudes a mild disposition and calmly told a female South African airport official, "I am here on official business", when she fished him out even after he had cleared with immigration. It was an odd question, one that showed South Africans are still apprehensive about having other Africans around.
It would be a little too early to say he has an impatient streak but Morris hates waiting at the carrousel for his bag to come through. He checked the baggage tags on three bags at OR Tambo International Airport before identifying the one that had the photos he would use for presentations in the house as his.
The other thing BBA3 fans can count on from Morris is that he will be making beautiful ethnic Ugandan music in the house courtesy of the ndingidi (tube fiddle) he carried as hand luggage. In the run up to his majestic entry in to the Big Brother Africa 3 house, Morris was holed up in a Johannesburg hotel together with his 11 other competitors but he never got to meet them until the show's launch on Sunday.
They may stay in the same hotel but each of the 12 housemates has a chaperone watching them like a hawk to ensure they never got to meet each other until they got into the house. Morris' last goodbye as he raced up the mirrored walkway to the house was to his parents Nalis and Jane Bigingo.
And while entering the house as the 10th housemate may have no bearing on whether he will be among the Top 3, his school contemporaries at Shimoni Demonstration School, Kako Secondary School in Masaka and Namirembe Hillside High School know he does not have to be loud to make an impression. Meanwhile, Africa should brace itself for the continent's next showbiz prince in our Morris.
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