AFTER almost three years of silence from the patrons of Miss Zimbabwe regarding the national beauty pageant with rumours of different kinds flying about, the event returned with class last seen decades ago.
The event that had always attracted the crème of the society had been reduced to a mockery with allegations that the last boot camp had the girls on a forced diet of black tea, a thin slice of bread, no lunch and sadza with offals.
The year 2013 passed with false starts and rumours that the pageant would be breathed to life by the corporate world who seemed not to budge.
Earlier in the year in an interview the chairperson of the Miss Zimbabwe Trust Mrs Marry Chiwenga told the press that the current beauty pageant regime wants to make sure that Miss Zimbabwe comes back with a bang.
Indeed the event returned with flair.
The pageant which was held in the capital at Mabvazuva Village, formerly Caravan Park in Msasa saw the return of the flamboyant, the rich and famous of Zimbabwean society.
It was by most measure, a restoration of national pride, but it did not stop the critics from crying that it was too ‘elitist’.
The main outcry was the out-of-reach US$300 ticketing which Mrs Chiwenga explained saying it was the only way to ‘revamp the event to international standards’.
“To organise an event of that magnitude requires money and because we were trying to lure the corporates back to the pageant, we had free tables for them and it goes back to my point earlier that everything required money,” Mrs Chiwenga said.
The chairperson of the pageant also went on to discuss the challenges they faced in organising the show in the first place.
“People may not be aware that when we spoke about ZESA or Freda Rebbeca assisting us, it was not in monetary terms, but rather the power company did not switch us off during the show and the mining company allowed us an educative tour on their premises,” she said.
According to Mrs Chiwenga, the event was highly successful as more guests showed up than expected.
Meanwhile, there was a social media backlash as to the presence of the military at the event.
“I am not the first nor will I be the last to use the forces at national events particularly beauty pageants,” said Mrs Chiwenga.
“I suppose it is because of who I am married to that the military presence has sparked interest, but if you look at the history of beauty pageants as far back as 1830s you will realise there is nothing unusual about the presence of the military.
“Even the recent Miss Carnival had military presence, therefore the criticism is unfounded, but an inevitable misconception.”
Despite all this, Mrs Chiwenga said Miss Zimbabwe was a resounding success.
“After the show, we managed to lure a number or organisations from the corporate world willing to work with us,” she said.
After a month in bootcamp the organisers trimmed down the 26 beauties to 15 that walked the ramp.
In the end it was law student Miss Thabiso Phiri that took the title escorted by the Presidential Guard.
Crowned also on that night was first princess, Tendai Hunda and Letwina Chinomona, as second princess.
The winners walked away with cash prizes plus a Chevrolet Cruze for Thabiso and a Spark Lite vehicle each for the first and second princesses.
“We are very prepared for Miss World and looking forward to it,” Mrs Chiwenga said.
After almost three years in absentia, Zimbabwe finally has a beauty queen representative.