The Sunday Mail
Twenty-one girls have been in camp for the Miss Zimbabwe finals since last Monday while the other five who were set to finish writing exams at various institutions of higher learning are due to join them this week. On Friday, the girls were scheduled to visit the National Defence College to get an appreciation of how the college operates. Yesterday was a day out to a conservancy to enjoy nature just outside Marondera.
Mrs Mary Chiwenga, who is the patron of the Miss Zimbabwe Trust, said everything was on course for the June 14 black tie event to be held at Mabvazuva Village (former Coronation Park) where the most beautiful girl in the country will be crowned.
The girl to be crowned Miss Zimbabwe will walk away with a Chevrolet Cruze and a $30 000 cash prize. Both her runners-up will drive away Spark Lite vehicles and also receive cash prizes. The amounts had not been determined by the time of going to print.
Confirmed artistes who are going to provide entertainment during the pageant are Suluman Chimbetu and Jah Prayzah, whilst the paperwork to include a top South African act is being finalised.
Mrs Chiwenga recently explained the pageant’s silence since the trust got the licence last year. “When we got the licence we did not have enough time to hold the finals and send the winner to the Miss World finals. Besides, most of the girls that were coming through did not meet the requirements of the Miss World pageant, which we feed into.”
But she said everything has been set now and that they are raring to go. “The atmosphere in camp is exuberant and the girls are all raring to go. We are just waiting for the remaining five girls who are scheduled to arrive this week and then we go full throttle into preparing for the finals. It is going to be one of the most-talked-about events of the year, the Miss Zimbabwe finals, that is.”
And to cushion the pageant against controversies, all the girls were scheduled to undergo mandatory pregnancy tests in the first week that they get into camp. “This we will do so that we don’t get pregnant girls being crowned Miss Zimbabwe and two months down the line, we being embarrassed. Remember the story of Linda van Beek who had to be dethroned after she became pregnant only a few months after she was crowned? We don’t want a repeat of that.”
Another plus for this year’s Miss Zimbabwe pageant is that the girls are coming into camp as Miss Zimbabwe delegates, previously they would come in as provincial winners.
“The previous arrangement would give the impression that a girl has to be from Harare or Bulawayo to win, but we have said all the girls are coming into camp as equals, they are all vying to represent Zimbabwe. So no girl, irrespective of where she comes from, has a better chance than the other because of the area of origin. The only advantage that a girl would need to have is beauty.”
