MISS Zimbabwe Trust spokesperson, Tendai Chirau, has accused one of Miss World Zimbabwe’s trustees, Crispen Sachikonye, of violating protocol, after he released a statement spelling out efforts that were underway to improve the pageant.
BY WINSTONE ANTONIO
“I acknowledge that we work together with Crispen, as one of our trustees, but in terms of communication on issues to do with the trust, it is I and Marry Chiwenga, the chairperson of the trust, who give official communication. We have not sat down on this one, as Chrispen is resident in the United Kingdom,” he said.
“Crispen’s sentiments are just a suggestion, which we are yet to deliberate on, as he did not get the full position of the trust and it is premature for us to discuss about it.”
Sachikonye told NewsDay recently that the trust was set to appoint new licensees for various regions to host the preliminaries of the flagship beauty contest, as a way of giving a face-lift to the pageant that seemed to have taken a severe knock from a raft of scandals in the past.
But Chirau described Sachikonye’s conduct as offside.
Sachikonye, who is based in the United Kingdom, said he had been in discussions with various stakeholders and was confident that the measures they were implementing to rescue the pageant would be effective.
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“Over the last few years, the Miss Zimbabwe Trust has been looking for ways to improve the quality of the contest. To improve the quality of the Miss World Zimbabwe contest, new licensees to host the preliminaries to the contest will be appointed worldwide,” he said.
“As part of our focus on upgrading the pageant, we want to improve the quality of the contestants and the regional contests that feed into the main contest and the way preliminary shows in Zimbabwe and abroad are managed will also be improved to be more focused on promoting the contestants and Zimbabwe.”
Sachikonye said besides improving the quality of the contest, the move was also part of a wider effort to develop a contest that reflects Zimbabwe more accurately.
He said the identification of licensees was now at an advanced stage, with Zimbabwe Fashion Showcase having been already selected as a licensee for Miss Zimbabwe United Kingdom.
“Other licensees that are being appointed are for Miss Zimbabwe United States of America, Miss Zimbabwe Canada, Miss Zimbabwe South Africa and Miss Zimbabwe World from within Zimbabwe,” he said.
“With this arrangement, only contestants from these licensed contests, or those directly sanctioned by the trust, will have a chance of becoming Miss World Zimbabwe.”
There has been public outcry over how the modelling industry in Zimbabwe has been reduced into a platform for sexual exploitation of models, leaving many with negative perceptions about pageants.
