Disorder and confusion seem to be the order of the day at the Miss Zimbabwe Trust, as the country failed to submit a name to compete for the Miss World pageant in the United States on December 20, with the deadline for submission lapsing last Friday.
BY WINSTONE ANTONIO
Many thought Mary Mubaiwa-Chiwenga had struck the right chord when she took over the pageant from the late Kiki Divaris, but that early optimism has dissipated, with observers saying lack of planning was haunting Miss Zimbabwe Trust.
A source close to the trust, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it was failing to raise money and its house was in shambles.
“All is not well, with the truth being that the organisers have failed to raise adequate funds and I doubt whether the pageant will go ahead,” the source said.
“Indications are that the trust is broke, as it has lost a number of partners and sponsors as a result of the controversy over leaked nude posts that rocked the pageant recently.”
Miss Zimbabwe Trust claimed that despite failing to submit a candidate for the prestigious pageant on time, they could still do so at a later date, as there was a special dispensation to do so.
But sceptics fear this will not do the country any favours, as this could see a repeat of the 2014 edition, were Tendai Hunda performed poorly due to lack of preparedness, as she failed to complete her Beauty with a Purpose project, something that is believed to have contributed to her failure.
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In recent years, Miss Zimbabwe has been rocked by a series of dethronements on allegations that the winning queens had posed nude, thereby, violating the pageant’s rules.
Only two months after being crowned queen in 2015, Thabiso Phiri was allegedly forced to resign after her suspected nude pictures went viral on social media.
After she was stripped of the crown, she was replaced by Cathrine Makaya, who was also dethroned again and replaced by Tendai Hunda, days before the Miss World finalists went into camp.
Efforts to get a comment from the pageant’s spokesperson, Tendai Chirau yesterday were fruitless, as his mobile number was not reachable and he had not replied to questions sent to him at the time of going to print.
