As TV stations mushroom in the country faster than Moses Golola’s motor mouth drops words, Uganda now has a whole ocean of beautiful, lady news anchors. But somewhere in that interminable sea, NBS TV’s Mildred Tuhaise has quickly curved out for herself a unique identity. Most particularly as a super articulate and super-informed young woman whose mind dissects issues at a level far higher than most of her counterparts across the industry. It’s what drove us to set our microphone before her, for a peek into who she really is beyond the screen image.
A woman like Mildred Tuhaise must surely read a hell lot of books …
Most people expect me to be a reader of many books, but actually I almost don’t read any books. I don’t even really watch movies. I mainly keep up-to-date by reading newspapers and listening a lot. I listen to everything I can –I actually eavesdrop on lots of conversations, especially if someone I know to be well-informed is involved.
Isn’t it unnerving being before the camera, reporting live or commenting on what’s in the news?
For me there is no pressure or anxiety… Maybe it’s because I have been on TV since I was a little girl. As a teenager I was on Top TV presenting a teen show from around 2007 till I outgrew the teens bracket and began presenting other shows like the cookery show.
Did you have your eyes on being a news anchor?
Not really. I just found myself anchoring news without ever planning to do so. About 2011, one female news anchor was going on maternity leave, while the other was leaving for another station, so my producer asked me to step in and it turned out perfect, and I have been a news anchor ever since.
Hahaha. Quite a number of them have come through, via social media, through colleagues (colleagues have told me stories of how people ask them for my contacts), there are those who have been able to get my phone number and some have come to the station and said. “I love your voice, your look …” There have been really funny cases, like some who have walked to me and proposed marriage. One was a really old man fit to be my father.
How do you handle the attention?
I politely inform them that I’m dating someone and can’t look elsewhere. I always have to be wise and deal with them properly. They are my fans, and some are our advertisers. In a way, myself and the TV station both need those people because they keep us in business.
We think your fashion sense, especially the body-hugging clothes, are partly responsible for all that attention.
I hate feeling my body shaking, so I primarily go for body-hugging clothes because they always make me feel one tight package. Of course everyone will interpret the clothes differently (my boss one time told me that viewers were watching me, but not listen because of the dress I was wearing), but for me it is all about looking good and feeling nice.
Given how much time you spend on TV, many people wonder if you ever have any free time from work and what you do in it?
I get time off work, because not every time is as busy as the election period. In that free time I sleep (I really love to sleep), participate in church activities like singing in the choir, and for most weekends I’m at my farming venture on Kayunga Road, where I have a nursery bed for all sorts of trees -fruit trees, forest trees, compound trees, name it.
Then we guess you hit the club after that …
Actually I have never even been to a nightclub my entire life, and the only time I’ve been to a bar was last year when we had a staff party there. I’m a dancing freak though. Presently I do ball-room and other dance styles. I train at In Motion studio.
People who don’t like going to night clubs and bars are usually Balokole …
Yes I am born again. Since my teenage years I have been a member of Christian Life Church, Bwaise, headed by Pr. Jackson Ssenyonga. I have always been a member of the choir in addition to fellowshipping and other things.
You sound like a fanatic Christian.
I’m not a fanatic Christian. I’m a believer, but not the type that will segregate between people and brand others according to their religious stands. My not having been to a club isn’t because of my religious stand. It is more because of my tight schedule. At campus I used to attend lectures during day and I would be on TV at night. When I graduated in 2013, my schedule just became tighter. I don’t take beer because I find it bitter, but I take some wine …I know the fanatics aren’t like me at all.
You’ve talked of music; some people think your voice is musical and you might have made a professional singer.
I only sing in the choir and I have never considered a musical career. And speaking of my voice, you are right many people say my voice isn’t for news but for things like romantic programmes. In fact when my producer at Top TV was giving me the anchoring job, he wondered if I would pull it off. My voice has always been husky. My mum tells me a story that when she gave birth to me, she thought I was a boy because of my deep voiced cry. In school they used to tease me that “I swallowed a frog,” but I got used and I have now embraced my voice.
And now we’re back to your profession! It seemed like you didn’t sleep a single minute over the recent presidential elections week, and we wonder how you handled that.
Hahaha … I caught a little sleep between the TV appearances. NBS booked us into a guest-house not far from the station where we could quickly slip in and catch some rest, then refresh and get back on air. I used to catch between one and two hours’ sleep. I was mentally prepared for it because I would set an alarm and get up even before it went off.