Three princesses selected on Saturday to represent the Northern Region at the 2016/17 Miss Malawi national finals next year have vowed to keep the crown in Mzuzu.
The Miss Malawi beauty pageant which was last held in 2012 saw Mzuzu-based Susan Mtegha getting the crown. She remains the last office bearer.
However, leading media houses Nation Publications Limited (NPL) and Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS) have revived the national pageant which also opens up doors to international beauty pageants such as the Miss World which Mtegha participated in.
The competition is currently in its second phase with regional finals starting in Mzuzu on Saturday.
Six models participated, but the judges settled for three—Lilongwe Technical College journalism student Tadala Uta, Mzuzu University (Mzuni) student Miwasy Nyirenda and entrepreneur Vanessa Mtegha.
Mtegha, a part-time worker with Population Services International (PSI), said she wants to work on mistakes she made during the regional finals.
“This has been my ambition and childhood dream. I think I am getting there and I am going to hit it. This is my time. And I feel so much overwhelmed for making it to the finals of the competition.
“Right now, I just have to focus and ensure that I correct whatever mistake I made. The goal is to make sure the crown remains in Mzuzu,” said the 26-year-old.
Uta, 19, said Malawians should expect more from her at the national finals.
“People had been discouraging me about the contest. But proceeding to the final round of the competition has just given me more confidence that I have all it takes to make it. I will use the platform to prove the pessimists wrong,” she said.
Mzuni bachelor of education student Nyirenda said she is ready for the finals and she looks forward to getting the crown.
“The secret to making it to the national finals is that I worked on comments judges made to me during the auditions. So, I tried hard not to repeat the mistakes. Now, I have the courage to do my best during the finals. I am ready for everything and I will be prepared enough,” she said.
Some of the patrons interviewed said they have hope in the winners to retain the crown for the city.
“Mzuzu has improved a lot in beauty pageantry and modelling. The costume and the confidence of the ladies was quite splendid. We are sending out the best of Mzuzu and we trust in them,” said Sandra Kamanga.
Chimaliro Township resident Limbani Chinyanga said the ladies stand a chance of winning the crown if they work on their language skills and do more research on the topic which is overpopulation.
Spokesperson for the event Teresa Ndanga said those who did not make it to the next round should not despair.
“All of them had areas of strengths. But in a competition, some win others lose. So, they should just polish up in areas pointed out by the judges so that come next year they should make it,” she said.
The glamorous event was hosted by Ruth Chikoleka and spiced up by Karonga-based Lusubilo Band. n
