This was not very good news for Uganda and the whole of Africa! After weeks of soliciting for votes, after beating off competition from tens of other comedians from all over the world, Africa’s only hope in the final round of the world’s funniest person competition, comedian Patrick Idringi a.ka Salvador didn’t make it to Helsinki, Finland for the semi- final round of the competitions.
And according to Salvador, the blame is entirely on the part of the organisers; the comedian told us he was let down by the poor communication from the organisers’ end.
“It was a hustle getting feedback from the organisers. Firstly, I got to know that the flight and accommodation were on me just a few days to the event. It caught me off guard but I knew I could handle! Then the invitation letter I was to use for my visa application had a wrong name; efforts to correct it by the organisers were in vain,” Salvador said.
The comedian told us he received another invitation letter; but it was just a couple of days to the event, hence it was too late for him to apply for a visa. Salvador is yet to tell us if the organisers of the event- Laugh Factory have offered an explanation or even an apology for the mess. The grand prize for the eventual winner of the competition was $100,000 (approximately Shs350m).