The much-hyped red-carpet Miss Global International Zimbabwe pageant held at Rainbow Towers on Saturday failed to live up to expectations.
The event was marred by disorganisation coupled with financial constraints.
Speaking to NewsDay on the sidelines of the pageant, Tare Munzara, the event’s spokesperson, admitted the event had failed to meet their expectations.
“We did not manage to fulfill the vision that we had,” he said.
“Initially, we wanted it to be an all-red-carpet event, but we failed to do this because we failed to get the money. The wine company that was supposed to provide the glint service pitched up three hours after the event had started.
“We did try our best, but the delays that we encountered also took away all the hype,” said Munzara.
Prior to the pageant, models reported that they were subjected to inhumane conditions during their camping period.
One of the models, who spoke to NewsDay on condition of anonymity, said organisers were overzealous and ignored the important factors of the event.
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“The conditions that we faced in camp were so bad and most of the times our meal times were delayed. We would sometimes have our lunch at 5pm, something that does not go well with the required diet schedule.
“The fact is the event was not well co-ordinated and there were too many financial constraints,” she said.
Munzara refuted claims of bad conditions that models faced in camp.
“The only times I remember when the models had late lunch was on Thursday and Friday. This was because the models had other programmes that interfered with their meal times,” he said.
This is despite the fact that two of the girls fainted on the night of the event due to suspected fatigue. Miss Lesotho 2010, Karabelo Mokoallo, who was guest of honour at the event, came by bus after the organisers failed to secure funding for a flight.
The 20 contestants who battled it out for the top prize were camped at BushBabby Lodge in Acturus.
Responding to the allegations, Munzara said: “The biggest challenge that we faced was that we never got any funding from any corporate organisation.
“We were running the pageant from our own pockets. Besides, what we were really looking forward to was not to make money, but to create a brand,” she said.
Harare-based Mutsa Mutare was crowned Miss Global International with Mellissa Chaka from Bulawayo being crowned Miss Heritage.
Cynthia Moyo from Bulawayo was the second princess.
It remains to be seen if Mutare will travel to Jamaica in September for the Miss Global International World finals.
