The story was run last week by the paper without Mpule’s comments.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday after Balise had shown his displeasure at Mpule and her aides for failing to respond to their queries, the beauty queen said point blank that she was not going to dignify the unfounded story with an answer.
Balise accused her of undermining the local media.
But Mpule said she could not divert her tight schedule of educating young people about good behaviour to answer questions on a subject the paper had decided to publish whatever it wants irrespective of her answer.
“That is beneath me. What the reporter should have asked is whether ‘our girl could do such a thing’ instead of making up their minds that it is true and just running with the story without double checking their facts.
I feel they could have investigated first instead of going on to google my name on the Internet which is very hard to censor.
Why should I give time out of my very busy schedule to answer something like this when I have to be out there motivating young people. That I have posed nude for that website is a blatant lie,” Mpule said.
She explained that the website from which the paper got the news has published the “blatant lie” about her and other women celebrities for over five years now.
She revealed that it is difficult even for IT experts to censor what is published in the Internet. Therefore, people just publish what they want on the web.
“If people can think that they can go googling my name on the internet and think that I am going to answer them, I am sorry, I am not going to,” she said. Balise insisted that Mpule should have taken a bit of her time to answer to the newspaper’s queries instead of assuming that everybody knows everything about her.
Dressed in a red traditional skirt and a black top, Mpule announced that she has worked hard for her image and would not pose nude. She failed to clarify her claims that Batswana were not supportive when she won the Miss Universe title in 1999.
The beauty queen said that there seems to be a communication breakdown between her aides and Botswana media about her.
She promised to improve communications between her aides and the Botswana media.
Mpule refuted claims that she had applied to be a citizen of the United States. She said she is still proud to be a Motswana. She announced that she was venturing into movies although she had tried unsuccessfully to convince a number of film producers.
Mpule said as soon as she graduates at the end of this year, she will be moving to Los Angeles where she is hoping to play a role in a movie alongside Robert de Niro. She brushed away suggestions that she was dubiously given sponsorship for further studies by the Department of Student Placement and Welfare. Mpule said after being admitted at the Columbia University, she came to Botswana to inquire about scholarship but she was told that the deadline had long passed. “But when I got to America, I was told that I have been awarded a scholarship. About the application process, I will leave that to the department to answer,” she explained.
Mpule said she can work hand in hand with the newly crowned Nokia Face of Africa, Kaone Kario to promote the country abroad. She said that one of them could be used as the face of De Beers as they have seen developments in the country and would be in a better position to ward off anti-Botswana campaigners like Survival International.
