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Dembe FM’s Bina Baibe
Robina Mbabazi Mulera, better known as Bina Baibe, presents the Mubeezi show on Dembe FM between 10am and 1pm. Photo by Faiswal Kasirye.
What you need to know:
Her radio name, she says, raises expectations and even leaves some disappointed. Robina Mbabazi Mulera had a chat with Abdulaziizi K. Tumusiime.
Bina Baibe or Robinah Mbabazi: Which of your names should I address you by?
I prefer Bina Baby because it is the one that people know best.
How did you settle for that name?
When I started working on radio, I was informed that I could not identify myself, on air, as Robinah Mbabazi Mulera because it was a formal name. You know radio is a theatre of the mind. So, I had to come up with a catchy name. I cut short Robina to have Bina. To make this sound a little sexy, I added Baibe, and ended up with Bina Baibe. In Luganda Bina means a butt.
Do you get fans checking you out under the influence of your name?
Many do. Very many. Then some say it is smaller than they expected. To this lot, I reply that at least I can sit. I find what they do funny and at the same time strange but I am comfortable with it because my name raises expectations. I am glad, though, that God did not give me a flat behind because I can’t imagine if I hardly had anything to account for my name.
A Mukiiga who speaks flawless Luganda…
I was fortunate to have learnt the language at an early age. Our house helps were Baganda. We communicated with them in the language. In high school, I went to Trinity College Nabbingo where most of my peers spoke Luganda. Of course they would punish us for vernacular speaking but that did not deter us from using the language.
Did the young Bina Baibe aspire to be a radio presenter?
No, I wanted to be a doctor. As a young girl, I was always impressed by the whole idea of being able to treat myself and the people around me. I read PCB/Sub math at A-Level. Unfortunately, I was not admitted on government sponsorship. I enrolled as a private student but quit in the first semester because we were dealing with a lot of dead bodies, something I could not handle. I opted to study accounting.
Oh, and rumour has it you have “many books”...
Not really. Anyhow, I am in my final year pursing a degree in Public Relations Management at Cavendish University. I have a diploma in Business Administration with a specialty in Accounting, from Nkumba University. I also have a degree in Marketing. All these are to cater for my life after radio.
Your first experience on air...
I panicked so much that I even forgot my own name. It was a horrible one.
What programme do you host?
It is called Mubeezi, which in English means a comforter. It runs between 10am to 1pm. The show has four segments; business tips, Dembe chef, job adverts and the family court. In the family court, I engage my listeners in a discussion about a challenge that has been raised by one of them. It could be in their marriages, in their families or at their place of work. Basically, we discuss anything that is causing depression in one’s life, for example, a strange disease for which one does not know the medication.
Do you feel that you are making a positive impact on society or it is about salary?
I think I am bettering people’s lives because there are a number of them that have been helped by sharing their problems with me. I’ll cite the example of a listener who approached me. This person was a hermaphrodite who had been rejected by the people around him. I raised his challenge on air and the listeners not only suggested solutions but they also contributed money for his operation. Another memorable one was of young girls who had been raped by their dad. I enabled them to get justice in the courts of law.
Talking of relationships, what is your status?
(She laughs hard…thinks hard, looks at my recorder (hard) blushingly). I am seeing someone. I am grateful that I have someone pampering me.
You are a beautiful lady. What took you so long to settle?
I was waiting for somebody who would accept me for who I am. Somebody who would love the real me - Robinah Mbabazi, - and not Bina Baibe, the radio personality. I wanted one who would look at me beyond radio. At least now I have someone who does that. I have had challenges in my previous relationships but they were all lessons, which have made me wiser.
What is your birth date?
I’ll inform you when I make 50 years. Ha ha!
If one morning God ordered, “Bina Baibe, choose between losing your voice or butt...”
I would choose to lose my butt and keep the voice. My voice has helped me touch souls, and put food on my table. So, if I lost it, there would be no more money for me or saving a life.
What is the weirdest thing the papers have written about you?
There was a time a tabloid reported that insects had eaten my private parts. It was so absurd.
And a truthful story the papers carried about you that left you wondering how they learned of it?
When I broke up with my first boyfriend, I only told one person. To my surprise, and my friend’s, the story was in the same tabloid a few days later. I have never been convinced that she did not leak the story.
What is the difference between Robina and Bina Baibe?
Robina is quiet, reserved, and shy while Bina Baibe is stubborn, bubbly and talkative.
What has been the most challenging time for you on radio?
That will be the time I had to be on air telling people about how beautiful love is at the same time I was nursing a broken heart.
What lessons did you learn from your previous relationships?
Not to enter relationships because of peer pressure. Not to lose one’s personality for the sake of pleasing one’s spouse. That men are not the same. That what works in another person’s relationship will not necessarily work in your own. So, before acting on advice, it is important to wholly study the root of the problem in your relationship.
