Former Miss Uganda Threatens Legal Action Against Media Houses Over Defamation

By Philip Wasswa

Former Miss Uganda, Stella Nantumbwe, has threated legal action against several media houses for defamation.

This follows reports that Nantumbwe had a sexual relationship with a Kampala-based prophet who purportedly gifted her with a car for having conceived a child for him as several media houses have alleged. She calls these claims unfounded and baseless.

Through five premier law firms, Nantumbwe issued a full-page notice in Daily Monitor newspaper on Thursday calling upon several media houses including the Vision Group, ChimpReports, Galaxy FM, Red Pepper, Big Eye, The Insider, Bliz, and bloggers and social media users to ‘cease and desist’ unwarranted revolting publication about her. 

Nantumbwe whom friends fondly call Ellah is the 2013/14 Uganda beauty crown holder and represented the country in the Big Brother Africa edition in South Africa. She is also an actress. 

The full-page advert/notice was placed by Magna Associated Advocates, Alaka & Company Advocates, Mugisha & Company Advocates, Ochieng Associated Advocates, and Galisonga & Company Advocates.

Natumbwe argues that she has demonstrated high patriotism and brought honor to Uganda for which the country should proudly celebrate, not ruin her life. 

“The said publications have been persistently made over a period of time and are evidently intended to lower our client’s reputation in the eyes of the right-thinking members of the society, and in particular, to cause our client to be regarded with feelings of hatred, contempt, ridicule, fear or dislike, public odium and if unchecked have a continuous effect of causing irreparable injury to our client’s reputation,” the notice of intention to sue reads.  

The law firms say that if media houses do not cease all related statements, defamation of character lawsuit will be commenced against them. 

Nantumbwe graduated in business computing from the University of Greenwich in England is said to be undertaking a post-graduate course at a top European business university. 

The Uganda Constitution protects Miss Nantumbwe’s right to privacy, as it affords every citizen. The penalties for breaches are enunciated in the Penal Code Act, which provides for criminal libel and defamation in Clauses 180 and 181. Clause 180 of the Penal code Act defines defamatory matter as a matter “likely to injure the reputation of any person by exposing that person to hatred, contempt or ridicule, or likely to damage any person in his or her profession or trade by an injury to his or her reputation.”