Participants in last weekends ‘Miss Mbale 2010' beauty pageant have accused the organizers of exploitation.
Six girls including an underage senior four student of Mbale Progressive Secondary School-Mariam Wagalire, participated in the beauty pageant which was held on Saturday at Green Gardens Guest House in Mbale.
The event's winner was expected to get a cash prize of one million shillings, while the first runner-up and second was to get 300,000 and 200,000 respectively.
But the prizes have not been delivered and the winners are crying foul.
21-year-old Helen Busikwa, who was crowned ‘Miss Mbale' says she was promised one million shillings and yet the organizers went ahead to announce on stage that she was handed her prize.
Busikwa explains that she opened the envelope and got only 500,000 shillings of which one of the judges followed her and took away fifty thousand shillings leaving her with only 450,000.
She says she has made several futile attempts to contact the organizers but their phones are switched off.
Irene Faith Lanyero, the third runner-up says she only got 200,000 shillings out of the 300,000 shillings. She says her colleagues who were earlier promised gift hampers worth 50,000 shillings went home empty handed.
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Stanley Omita, one of the organizers says all the participants were entitled to a monetary reward of only 1.5 million shillings, which was paid to them at the end of the show.
Omita however says the show was organized by his private company 'Miss Mbale Company Limited and he should not be exercised to media scrutiny.
