Bungoma county beauty queen disowned after disparaging Wheelbarrow remarks she made

KENYA: Catherine Sabina of Bungoma County got disowned yesterday Sunday, June 19, by the county after she made remarks that seemed to disparage the county.

The 42 contestants were required to introduced themselves by saying their names and a short description of the counties they represented, as KTN streamed it live.

“Hello viewers. I am Catherine Sabina from Bungoma, the land of wheelbarrows and James Bond… I am kidding. Bungoma County is a bedrock of tourism, karibu Bungoma.” said Catherine Sabina.

The joke was not well received by the county officials including Bungoma Tourism and Environment executive Martin Talian who wrote to the Miss Tourism Kenya pageant coordinator, Rosemary Kawira, disowning Sabina, who he also believes is an impostor.

Sabina’s remarks on the county rubbed Talian the wrong way because of two incidents that recently put the devolved unit in the headlines. Governor Ken Lusaka was accused of corruption for the the purchase of 10 wheelbarrows at a cost of Sh1.09 million, meaning each wheelbarrow cost a whooping Sh109,320, an unrealistic price that still has the country speaking to date.

“It has come to our notice that there is a candidate by the name Cate purporting to represent Bungoma County in Miss Tourism 2016. We did not hold any competitions for the Miss Tourism 2016 in Bungoma. Any candidate purporting to be representing Bungoma is an impostor. The county government of Bungoma shall not be liable in any way since it is not participating in Miss Tourism 2016,” Mr Talian said in his letter.