It is supposed to be the biggest annual social event, but in the past it has been far from that. The first post Genocide Miss Rwanda was held in 2009 and Grace Bahati was the first winner of the coveted crown. 

As people started warming up to the idea of the annual contest, it went quiet and after her reign, Bahati proceeded to the United States of America for further studies. She however, had to deal with public criticism when she got pregnant during her reign.

It took another three years for the country to embark on another search that ended up in the crowning of Aurore Mutesi Kayibanda in September 2012. It was her job to revive the glory of Miss Rwanda as a formidable figure in society.

Her journey was filled with lots of activities, charity work and participating in beauty contests around the world. She was ridiculed for being conservative after she declined to hit the stage in a bikini during an international beauty event. But she stayed steadfast until the end of her reign. 

It took two years to get another Miss Rwanda. Colombe Akiwacu was crowned in February 2014.

The mess in Miss Rwanda 2014

After the reign of Aurore, the next Miss Rwanda had a lot to do to redeem the image of the institution, however before that could happen, videos of terrible auditions circulated on social media that most people wondered what type of beauty queen the country would have. 

Poor literacy skills, poor organisation and preparation of contestants were witnessed in the Miss Rwanda 2014 auditions. Many people questioned how a badly organised beauty pageant could produce a good representative. Going through videos on YouTube, the comments that followed clearly showed how poorly prepared the girls were.

A one Marie Mukazayire said, "As a young Rwandan girl, I am ashamed of this. These girls can’t even answer simple questions! People need to start realising that foreign languages are very important. I honestly wouldn’t have picked any of them.”

Another Pastor John said, "Oh my God this is so funny! They have nice figures but they can’t even talk, so sad.” 

Those are among the many comments posted on the videos uploaded on YouTube while others surfaced on Twitter and Facebook. With the auditions done and boot camp finished, there came the grand finale that people expected to make up for the awful auditions. But it was also a disaster.

Miss Rwanda 2014 grand finale

First, the event that was slated to begin at 6pm started after 8pm. To make matters worse, no representative from the Ministry was available. The show itself had poor protocol, there were no people programmed to award contestants who won in various categories. It was more of random selection of distinguished people in the audience as a last resort.

Not only that, it took two days to crown Miss Rwanda 2014, at 1am on February 23, 2014. As the journey of Miss Akiwacu kicked off, the honeymoon didn’t last long. Six months down the road, she was already frustrated and disappointed; from being given an old car, dealing with financial constraints and poor management of her activities. But she saw her reign through and eventually things looked up for her. 

So after all that has happened in the previous reigns, what have we learned from the past and what are the expectations of Miss Rwanda 2015?

Lessons learnt and expectations

Considering the long journey that Miss Rwanda 2014 has gone through, various people, especially the main players, have a lot of expectations for Miss Rwanda 2015. 

Miss Rwanda 2014, Colombe Akiwacu says, "The first lesson we should learn is to try and fulfill promises made to young girls. It is hurtful when promised that things will be done but in the end nothing is done. Secondly, I think there should be an improvement during the boot camp training.”

She says that the training is not bad but there’s still room for improvement. Lastly, she urges the organisers to be punctual during the ceremony to avoid crowning people late in the night. 

As for her expectations, the beauty queen says, "I can’t tell the eventual winner what to do because different people have different goals, but I would advise her to do an excellent job.”

The Miss Rwanda beauty pageant is under the docket of Amb. Joseph Habineza, Minister of Sports and Culture. His expectation is to put much emphasis on beauty, brains and culture.

"We want to produce a girl who is beautiful, intelligent and cultural. We want a girl who is well versed with Rwandan culture. As for the lessons, we are trying to change things, there were issues with the organisation, there were no goals in place but we are looking to change all these things,” he says.

He also says that there is need to train Miss Rwanda 2015 to be an exemplary ambassador of the country.

Miss Rwanda cuts across many other projects including the Ministry of Youth and ICT, Hon. Jean Philbert Nsengimana says.

"I expect Miss Rwanda 2015 to have a positive influence on the youth. But as far as we are concerned, we think that it is very important to have this pageant because it connects with other sectors, like fashion, which we are still trying to develop. It is also a way of promoting creativity among the youth which ultimately results into job creation.” 

He adds that it is important for the promotion of culture among the youth. As for the lessons learnt from past events, he says that as long as anything is in the process, there’s always room for improvement.

"There’s need for more public awareness about Miss Rwanda. It should be explained very well to the public to avoid misconceptions. Secondly, improvement is needed in terms of preparedness. Contestants need to be prepared physically, intellectually, morally and psychologically. So, awareness and preparedness are the two main areas I see that need improvement,” Hon. Nsengimana says.

However, the main people on the spot here are the organisers, Rwanda Inspirational Backup Ltd, and according to the managing director and project manager Miss Rwanda, Dieudonne Ishimwe, they are changing many things in response to the feedback they received from the general public.

"We expect to give Rwandans the best Miss Rwanda event they are yet to witness. We have made tremendous changes in our time keeping, stage designing, auditioning and activities in boot camp. We have also added more awards for the eventual winner, aside from getting a brand new car, she’ll receive a monthly salary of Rwf 700,000 and an excellent management team,” he says.

Ishimwe says that Miss Rwanda 2015 will be the true embodiment of culture and they aim to raise the pageant to an international level. 

"We listened to people’s feedback and we are putting it into practice. So far, everything is proceeding as planned and we look forward to an exciting event this year. We have a dedicated and competent team which I believe will deliver to Rwandans the ultimate Miss Rwanda.”

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The beauty queens

Grace Bahati – Miss Rwanda 2009 – 2012

The first ever crowned Miss Rwanda, Grace Bahati, will never forget her reign. Apart from not having a proper schedule and management, the only thing she’s remembered for is getting pregnant out of wedlock. Bahati was Miss Rwanda 2009; according to her, she handed over the crown when her term was done and she had to go for further studies in the United States of America.

She got pregnant in 2012 with musician Kavuyo K8’s child but she was ridiculed by the general public. Although she had handed over the crown, most people thought she was still the reigning Miss Rwanda which wasn’t the case. She is still in the US where she stays with her son Ethan.

Aurore Kayibanda Mutesi – Miss Rwanda 2012 – 2014

Born in the Southern Province of Butare in 1990, Aurore was crowned the second Miss Rwanda in 2012. She became Miss Rwanda at a time when no one thought the pageant would ever take place again. She re-built the face of beauty queens in Rwanda, participated in Miss University Africa contest in Nigeria, Miss Supranational in Belarus (both in which she won Miss Congeniality) and crowned Miss FESPAM in 2013 in Ivory Coast.

She also organised the first "Night of Remembrance,” an annual commemoration event to remember the youth who perished in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. She was also involved in various charity works, such as visiting the sick and the needy and participating in advisory services for the youth. She is actively involved in beauty pageants and charity projects.

Colombe Akiwacu – Miss Rwanda 2014 – to date

After the pageant was on hold for two years, Colombe was crowned Miss Rwanda in 2014. She stood the test of time as Miss Rwanda amidst all frustrations she encountered.

During her reign, she conducted various charity projects for orphans and Genocide widows. Last month she participated in the annual cultural show Mavuno Yetu in Uganda.

Her tour in Europe was successful as she managed to clinch deals with OE cosmetics in France and Bruno Vassari in Spain.

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What are your expectations of Miss Rwanda 2015?

Eugene Ntukanyagwe

I think it will be better than last year’s Miss Rwanda. Last year it was a total disaster, from auditions to the final but from what I have seen this year so far, the girls are beautiful and the project is actively backed by the Ministry. I was excited to see the Minister in Musanze yet I never saw his predecessor at any event. I think it will be better.

Fabiola Ishimwe Rushinga

I didn’t follow the past Miss Rwanda beauty pageants but what I have seen so far is not bad at all. However, I would like to advise the organisers to put much emphasis on intelligence, culture and then beauty. They all matter but it’s difficult to get someone with all the qualities. Lastly, I was looking through the pictures and I saw someone with a tape measure, I would urge them to get proper equipment to measure height. Otherwise, I wish them the best.

Jean de Dieu Nishyirembere

From what I’ve read on various websites, a lot has changed. The girls are beautiful and people are taking the project seriously. Although it is still too early to tell, we should give credit where it is due because at this stage last year, people were laughing and criticising the event. However, I see things are different now and I hope the winner comes from the Southern province again.

Noerine Umurangwa

It is still early to tell but for me, I’m looking out for the eventual winner. That is when we will be able to tell if the project was successful. I have read various stories and seen pictures from the past two auditions but what happens in the other provinces will also matter. If they maintain the standards, then we can hope to have a better Miss Rwanda event and a winner we are all proud of.

Frank Mutungi

I can only wish them the best. After following the past Miss Rwanda pageants, I’m not eager to follow this one until the final and then I will decide if it amounted to anything.

Ghislaine Umuhoza

I thought all was going well until I read a story yesterday about some girl who was claiming that she was left behind because of substandard equipment used in measuring height. This is how things start to go wrong; they should not be using a tape measure because it is not accurate. That is why people are crying foul. I hope this mistake is rectified before it causes more problems.

dean.karemera@newtimes.co.rw