This Is Bella Twine For BBC Focus On Africa
Bella Twine was born to Mr and Mrs Charles Baguma as one of 12..yes-12 siblings. It was easy to get lost in the crowd considering she was the fifth in that line.
I believe, often ignored, the middle child often grows up punching above their weight, fighting to be seen and not just to be heard.
But this story is different.
Growing up as a little girl and throughout her school life, Bella was often cheered on by her mother who-as parents often do-saw her light shining in the media world.
On one of her holiday visits to see her mother in Kyenjojo, they listened to a local breakfast show on Cruz FM where the presenter said they were looking for someone to fill in for the holiday. Her mother quickly made arrangements to see her transported to the station, believing this was something she would do very well but Bella refused to go. She was way too shy.
These were the early hints and even when she didn’t like it, this purpose was calling unto her. She was always called to M.C family parties and always the one to write glowing tributes in her aunties’ cards during the holidays…..wasn't she the one with the good English, everyone mused.
In primary school she was selected by her class teacher to become an Information Minister and that meant standing infront of the class and telling stories.
Then came High School. When she enrolled in Naalya SS on her first day at the school, she caught snippets of a speech a motivational speaker who had been called to the school to orient the new class had been giving.
The Communications Expert spoke so well of how he had had an exciting career in many prestigious companies like Rwenzori Bottling Company and Nile Breweries. As he spoke, it felt like he was painting the sky with brilliant colors, and Bella could just see her future where he stood holding a microphone. She signed up for his mentorship programme and was soon feeding off his table. Together with a friend, Bella pitched an idea where they would present skits before or after his presentations and he welcomed it. The boldness was born over constant literature school plays that she had grown to be a part of at the school.
She was so enamored by how he spoke of Communications that she when she went to Makerere, she majored in it rather than journalism in her course of preference- Journalism & Communications. It wasn't her first choice though; she had originally applied to do Law in Uganda Christian University, and already done pre-entry exams. The fees for this course, however, proved to be too high so her father advised her to opt for a more affordable option. She was so sure about this second choice that she filled JOURNALISM in all the six course options on the application form.
“As a backtrack, when I went to pick my S.6 results, an Economics teacher congratulated me on my great performance (I had scored 18 out of 20 points), and encouraged me to go do Journalism as we had very few students doing that from the school…forever grateful to you the late Mr. Lubega”
While on Campus, she found herself always at Watoto Church for one or the other activity prodded on by her friend, Nicole.
It was while here that the media bug kept biting and she soon joined Power FM, one of the popular radio stations that had its space in the Church premises.
This experience greatly enhanced her grades in her Journalism class because she had practical knowledge gleaned from the station. Whether it was through her voice recording sessions, audio production or radio presenting trainings, she gained a lot from the experience.
While joining the station together with a few other colleagues- Mbithi, Paula and Anita would prove to be an experience like no other. Her tutelage under a lead News Anchor, Anita Muwanguzi as well as the amiable News Editor, Solomon Lubambula really helped shape her career.
And as she had always told God that she would bloom wherever He planted her, this was where the blooming would start.
While on Campus, she also applied for a media challenge Inter University Competition where the top three participants as well as their production teams were chosen to advance. She emerged best overall and got two awards- Best News Anchor as well as Best Climate Change story which was a validation for all the work she had put in.
The culmination of this project was when the best 26 students from all universities were chosen with each of the fellows being paired with a mentor in the industry.
Bella was paired with Josephine Karungi who was an anchor with NTV then but didn't get a chance to do her internship as Covid struck, leaving her in Fortportal where the countrywide lockdown found her. Nonetheless, Josephine kept in touch pointing out what she should leave out or include in the various recordings she sent her from the countryside; she had decided to string stories from the village where she found herself confined, and she passed these on to her mentor for assessment.
Together with a group of friends, Bella started a project that later morphed into a company in 2021. Amongst the projects they did was one where the six of them produced 12 videos for Deutsche Welle.
It was on this backdrop that they decided to register a fully fledged company. They approached the Aga Khan Foundation for a grant and the Debank Media Initiative was born. This was purely a passionate start up and in time she found herself questioning if this was all there was to her life; the mundane task of repeatedly doing the same thing over and over again just wasn't cutting it. She wanted to touch lives and the question kept lingering-’Could she do more?’
Her job brought opportunities like studying French and when an opportunity to go to France on a scholarship, she jumped at it as a chance to explore her horizons. It was also a good diversion from the usual hustle and bustle of life in Uganda. From there she took another trip to Germany with the Federal Foreign office there where she made some good contacts.
On returning home, she decided to reach out to one of these networks, a Director working with the German broadcasting company, Deutsche Welle (DW).
Bella inquired about an opportunity she had heard of and to her surprise, got a reply within an hour. They asked her to send through some of her work and she did. This was the start of her freelance journey, one she embarked on with justo- could this be a possibility for her to make an impact, she wondered.
Around the same time, a pal in Congo told her about the Whistledown Production. This was an affiliate of the BBC that had done a lot of investigative work that was conducting a series of training sessions to share tips in their craft. She quickly linked up with the facilitators for guidance. The programme involved them sending in some productions they had done which would be assessed to see if they could be included in the coming year's BBC broadcasts. She sent through her recordings in 2021 where none were taken up. She trained again in 2022, 2023 and 2024 to no avail; she soon grew despondent and hopeless fearing this enterprise was never going to bear fruit.
However, one of the programme facilitators reached out and told her that while her stories were good, they had so many of the same in their archives so she needed to try some different angles. Still she said she would give her colleague Bella’s contact as he was doing an investigative piece in Hoima and needed someone on the ground. The colleague reached out to her and asked if she would recommend someone or do it herself. Naturally this conversation had her chomping at the bit and she went for it. She was soon back and forth with him sending her copy and recordings, and after some editing, the story ran in April of 2025.
Still Bella was underwhelmed after this achievement. In her words, “You pray so hard for something and when you achieve it, you start to think- now what?’ The only fulfilment she feels you get is when you have God but hasn't He put eternity in the hearts of men?
So the DW gig started around February of 2025 then the BBC one came through while I was doing it but a couple of years back, Rabbi Daniel Malinga, my spiritual father had sent each of his partners a card at Christmas where he had given them pointers on their purpose and calling and what the Spirit was saying. In it, he said the Lord was putting her on a pedestal and that she was a light in the media industry. He implored her not to let her light be swallowed up by the world.
He had also picked me up in Fellowship and prophesied over my life saying he saw doors open in the BBC and something about the Swahili Service. This was way before her interaction with the people in the BBC and DW, and while she accepted the Word, she didn't fully accept it.
Focus On Africa, an affiliate of the BBC put out a call for a presenter in August 2025 and I saw it but didn't put much heed to it. I was already subscribed to the BBC UK so I always kept abreast of any opportunities that they advertised so when I saw this, I figured so many others had seen it and I didn't stand a chance so I didn't apply. I disqualified myself firstly because I didn't have the experience especially of an active newsroom and had more of a Communications background than a stringer's. Samantha- a friend of mine forwarded a message of the same job opportunity but in it was some more detailed information where it said the BBC were leaning towards hiring a Ugandan. From experience I always trusted her counsel and this was another of those moments I wasn't going to miss out. I quickly went about applying for the position though my heart wasn't fully there. This wasn't helped by the frustrating application system that required to keep saving my work every 30 seconds. After a few failed attempts, I abandoned the process and went about my life well knowing there was a deadline for submission. In time I thought the deadline had passed till I checked my email on one of those idle days I was lazying around my brother's office. Lo and behold the deadline was for that very day, 7th of August at midnight! With renewed vigor I sent through my application making sure to attach any certifications I had gotten from courses I had taken with the CNN as well as other news agencies. To my surprise, the BBC contacted me ten days later with news that I had been shortlisted with five other candidates from Egypt, Chad, Algeria and other African countries.
I googled all the other names that they had cc’d in the email and that further assured me that I didn't stand a chase; their experience far surpassed mine. I then did the written interview which I was sure I flunked and then they sent through a schedule for the oral interviews where I chose the 4pm slot because I wanted to be relaxed and free; I had done similar interviews from my time with NTV Uganda so I knew how to go about it. Still it came as a surprise when I made the panel laugh as they interviewed me; this was a totally new experience for me. With the interviews concluded, they informed us that the successful candidate would have to relocate to Nairobi and we would get back to us in a week.
In the course of that week, one of the other shortlisted candidates from Algeria reached out to me and told me he believed I would get the job. He said if it wasn't him, it had to be me. He kept affirming his conviction with ‘Inshallah’ as he was a Moslem. The week wound down with me getting no response from them and I was soon deflated and low. Still, one night at midnight before I slept off, something prompted me to check my email again. I didn't find any email from them but something prompted me to check my spam folder and what do I see? An offer letter from the BBC!!! The devil started playing tricks on me and saying what if it was a letter of regret. I quickly opened it and with tears streaming down my face I read every line. My brother who was going to fix something to eat passed by my bedroom and hearing me crying, budged in. Somehow I managed to tell him the good news even though I was still sobbing. He hugged me and we danced around the room and sat talking through the night while sharing the good news with other family members and friends. I remember that that day as I had my katogo, a peace had settled over me and I heard in my spirit the Lord say, ‘Have I ever let you down?” I kept reflecting on how I had travelled when I didn't have a job..how I completed my degree even though I still had a fees balance..a balance I only cleared this year…
I reminisced on all this with tears streaming down my cheeks…You remained faithful, Lord even when I was faithless because You can't deny Yourself.
As I speak I am in Nairobi living my dream…the middle child in the Baguma household will be heard… not only seen.
Bella is the best.
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