The norm is that Kenyans come over
here and take the jobs. But maybe, this trend could be flipped over if
Ugandans so wanted. How else would a relatively upstart TV presenter
have landed herself a job there on a relatively bigger TV station?
Eunice Rukundo writes
The closest I have come to Joy Doreen Biira is watch
her on television. And more recently, speak to her on phone and exchange
a few emails. On television, I did not get her at all, probably because
I only stumbled upon her as I flipped my way to the television stations
more prominent than the relatively new NBS she featured on. I must
actually confess that I only began to notice her when word started to go
round about the light skinned beauty on NBS that was becoming a sort of
media darling.
Around the same time however, the Rwenzururu
sensation seemed to disappear as suddenly as she had appeared about five
years ago. But, Biira did not re-appear MCing at gigs or any such
business as her colleagues that tried and left television before her
did. No. She re-appeared on television, only this time in a bigger
better way.
The eye-catching 26-year-old that first featured on
that arguably inconspicuous NBS television is now being shown across
the border in Kenya on the far more prominent KTN television station.
“I’m a Prime Anchor and Reporter with KTN Kenya; have been since late
December 2011,” she says.
Just collecting her dues
When
she had just started at KTN, Biira admits she did sense some
disapproval. “There were mixed feelings about whether or not there
weren’t options in Kenya,” she says. Some might have even thought she
had been offered the job for her good looks, as her former co-presenter
on NBS TV, Shawn Kimuli, admits he first thought.
“I honestly thought and hoped she wasn’t one of
those beauties without brains they had given me for a co-presenter when I
first saw her,” admits Kimuli. Without deliberately going out to
disapprove the impression she did not know about, Biira soon showed
Kimuli why she was on the job, even though she was still a student,
moreover studying Information Technology.” I found she works hard, is
intelligent, ambitious and really purposes to get what she wants,
nothing like most beautiful girls who wait for things to come to them on
account of their good looks,” testifies Kimuli.
In her new job too, Biira is sure she has convinced
them she is worth the job. “Later, I think they changed their minds
after they watched me anchor; either I’m doing a good job, I look Kenyan
or I’m just a lucky girl,” she reasons cheekily, adding that she has
been credited by professionals there for bringing warmth,
professionalism and intelligence to the station.is S
It will, in fact, appear that the deal in the region’s
biggest economy (Kenya) better known for producing rather than sourcing
for skill, was majorly due to her work. “At the time, I had offers from
local stations I will not mention back home too and in Ghana with TV3.
None of them were responses to applications. TV3 said they were in
attendance the time I was speaking at the Woman Summit in Ghana in
October 2010 and read my profile on Wikipedia and considered employing
me,” she reveals.
Big as her new stinct might appear to us Ugandans
back home who are more acquainted with the Kenyan labour flocking our
job market and not the other way round, Biira says she is only beginning
on her journey to achievement. “Only after I work for an international
news channel will I hang up my gloves and help those who want to get to
where I have been. Until that happens, I will keep doing this and more
in the media world,” she vows. In the meantime, she looks to pick on
CNN and ABC’s Christian Amanpour’s passion, and Richard Quest’s energy.
A reserved force of determination
Talking
to her on phone recently, I got the impression she was guarded,
reserved and quite careful; she did not honour our deadline to have my
questions answered and when she did answer them, it was unhurriedly. It
was as if she were buying time to make sure she only offered me answers
she would not regret.
She admits to being “a little reserved, like my
space and not the kind who wants the world to notice my presence
wherever I go.”
But, do not be deceived; within the confines of that
reservation lies an energetic determined force that saw Biira sneak
into Mass Communication classes at the university in search of her
dreams. “I applied for Mass Communication at the university, but I was
offered my third choice, which was BSc Information Technology. Media was
however, my first love,” she recounts.
The love she says might have stemmed from early
exposure to information by her parents has been driven by a desire to
“truly serve” the people.
“Journalism has allowed me the chance to express
the minds of the voiceless while informing the world of what is
happening. Being a true servant of the people gives me satisfaction and
that is what journalism is about.”
And who is to say that Biira may not one day grace the same screens as her idols, let alone fulfill her dreams?
Well,
speaking for myself, all I can say is that we are proud and wish you
Godspeed as you hold the Ugandan banner high on your way up. Go, Biira!
