Kenyan Votes For Lupita Invalid.

Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o has been nominated for numerous awards for her role in 12 years as a slave including an Oscar. The media is a buzz about her and she has been featured on the cover of many major magazines.
The Mexican born actress was recently nominated for EE Rising Star Award in the British Academy Film And Television Awards, set for February 16th this year. Kenyans have been mobilising themselves to vote enormously for her. The sad thing is, all your votes are invalid.
An email sent by the the award’s PR representatives to Kiss 100 Big Breakfast host Caroline Mutoko stated;  “This is a British Award ceremony — the EE Rising Star Award is voted for by the British public.”
Mutoko sought to  find out if Lupita was just a token nominee given her hype and race. She wrote the following email to the organisers.
“My major concern is, that the vote is linked to a chance to win tickets to an event. I work in media, I totally understand why that is a huge way to get participation on the site. However as Kenyans and Kenyan media, we would love to see Lupita win this award.
Tickets to the event are neither here nor there for us. Tell me, do the votes we cast for Lupita get disregarded just because we are NOT in the UK, and if so, why bother to put her on the list.
To win or even have a chance at winning we need the support of Kenyans, how can you eliminate her biggest voting and yet put her up for the award? Aren’t you simply saying she can’t win no matter what?”
In response, Rachel Devenport of McSaatchi PR company wrote back saying, “To answer your question — as this is a British Award ceremony, the EE Rising Star Award is voted for by the British public and this has always been the case I’m afraid. By name and definition the EE British Academy Film Awards exist to recognise films available for viewing by the British public. I hope this is helpful!”