Since she arrived in Rwanda from the United States nine months ago, Akaliza has been settling up well to improve the way she communicates with her surroundings using Kinyarwanda, a language of her home country.

Born in Uganda to Rwandan parents, Akaliza’s family has been to different countries including Belgium, Mauritius and Zimbabwe before going to the United States where she spent eight years.

Despite growing in different communities speaking either French (Belgium, Mauritius) and English (Uganda, Zimbabwe and now United States), the 24-year-old understands Kinyarwanda well but, to communicate well, she uses English and a little bit of her mother language.

One might wonder how she got to understand Kinyarwanda yet she has never lived in Rwanda until she came in November last year to participate in Miss Rwanda, but Akaliza’s parents always encouraged her to practice speaking Kinyarwanda as much as she could whenever she came to Rwanda to visit relatives. 

As she tries to cope in a community that speaks Kinyarwanda, English remains her favorite language of communication given that she spent her full academic journey in English speaking schools from primary (Green Hills Academy and Riviera High School) to the High school and university in the United States.

Akaliza could be heard struggling to speak Kinyarwanda properly while explaining what pushed her to participate in the beauty contest during media interviews but the language was never a challenge for her during the contest since contestants were allowed to speak either of the languages used in Rwanda namely English, French, Kinyarwanda and Kiswahili.

And, as a young woman who grew up in the United States, Akaliza felt comfortable to communicate in English during the contest but also managed to use a bit of Kinyarwanda while speaking to the local media, to ensure that she can convey the message to the Rwandan community from whom she needed support to win the crown.

But language cannot be blamed for losing the Miss Rwanda 2021 crown to holder Grace Ingabire who also had the same challenge.

Akaliza has stayed in Rwanda after the contest and keeps learning  Kinyarwanda to improve the way she communicates. 

Members of the public however, have not made the process easy for her. According to her, they have been asking her time after time whether she has finally been able to speak Kinyarwanda properly until she called people to give her time as she continues to improve the language.

"To all those who keep asking me, "you don’t speak kinyarwanda yet?” …Stop it. I understand it’s entertaining for you but it’s stressful for me,” she said via her Twitter account.

"Expecting me to know the entire language in the nine months I’ve been back home is a high expectation for you and me. I’m learning, teach me or let me be,” she added.

Akaliza’s statement has since drawn mixed reactions among people on social media with some coming to her defense that she  still needs time to learn to speak Kinyarwanda properly while others reminded her that her mother language remains a key to successfully communicate and share her initiatives with Rwandan communities.

"Be you Amanda, it's okay... even English is official here. It's a matter of time, I believe you will speak it (Kinyarwanda) fluently,” said one Fidele Amani

Another Twitter user, Hakiza JD, said that being Rwandan is the best pride Akaliza can feel despite struggling to speak the mother language as a result of growing up outside the country.

"We need to chill. Leave our Miss alone, she is very proud to be Rwandan from what I have seen. Rwanda has four official languages, by the way. Equal,” he commented.

Inès K. Gege Buki also defended Akaliza saying that mastering Kinyarwanda takes far longer than the nine months she spent in the country.

"Never mind Amanda, you will get there once. 27 years in my country and still don't fully master it. The most important thing is to communicate and practice more,” said Gege.

Many people, including previous Miss Rwanda crown winners Jolly Mutesi, Meghan Nimwiza, Liliane Iradukunda and Elsa Iradukunda, backed Akaliza with the majority emphasizing that the will and the effort you put in is what really matters.

However, a small section of people reminded Akaliza that she will need to speak Kinyarwanda to communicate with people who don’t understand English as far as her projects are concerned.

"So how will you convince the common person, the village girl who can’t speak English about the good of being Miss Rwanda, but anyway since it’s not among the criteria,” replied Frank Karamage