Aurore Mutesi Kayibanda, 20, was on Saturday night crowned Miss Rwanda 2012 after beating 14 other contestants in a hot contest that took place at the Gikondo Expo Grounds.Kayibanda, a first year Political Science student at the National University of Rwanda (NUR) was first recognised as Miss Heritage."I am glad that my dream has finally come true. It wasn’t easy getting here but I am confident that I will represent my country to the best of my ability,” the beauty queen told The New Times shortly after she was crowned.Kayibanda who represented the Southern Province, was handed her grand prize car that organisers say is worth Rwf25 million.She will also fly to South Africa courtesy of RwandAir where she will spend four nights at the Inkwanzi Lodge. Other prizes include a DSTV decoder from Tele 10, a beauty product pack from Simba Supermarket and a package of hair products from Shair Hair Academy, among others.Natacha Uwamahoro, 20, was the first runner-up while Ariane Murerwa, also 20, took up the second runner-up position.The first runner-up won a return ticket to Tanzania, a three night stay in Serena Hotel Zanzibar and a package of beauty products from Simba Supermarket as well as hair products.The second runner-up will visit Kenya and spend three nights at the Serena Hotel in Mombasa She also won beauty and hair products.The event officially started at 8pm and was led by the Minister of Sports and Culture, Protais Mitali.There was a seven judge panel and Charles Haba and Sylvia Gasana were the Masters of Ceremony.The Mashirika entertainment group staged a great performance before welcoming the contestants on stage. The audience burst with excitement when the contestants all cat walked on the stage which was decorated glamorously for the evening.Like all beauty contests, they cat walked in creative, traditional and evening wear. The creative wear was the most exciting as it gave the girls a chance to express their creativity. Each contestant had a different idea and interpretation of her artwork but the most notable aspect was that their ideas rotated around encouraging national development programmes.At that end of the exercise, Fidelis Tega Karangwa was announced Miss Photogenic, Joe Christa Giraso became Miss Innovation while Ange Uwamahoro was announced Miss Congeniality. Liliane Mubera Umutesi was recognised as Miss Popularity.The judges then identified the top five from which the top three would be selected.The finalists were Carmen Akineza, Natasha Uwamahoro, Ariane Murerwa, Aurore Umutesi Kayibanda, and Fiona Uwase.Naturally, they were taken through a question and answer session to test their intellect. However, it wasn’t easy for the judges to select the best three so a second round of Q’s and A’s was required. Around midnight, Kayibanda was announced Miss Rwanda 2012 - throwing her fans into an outburst of excitement and jubilation. The event was well attended. She replaces 2009 Miss Rwanda, Grace Bahati. Prior to the grand finale, the contestants spent two weeks in a boot camp where they underwent various exercises all aimed at improving their skills and performance.In the concluded Miss Rwanda contest, a pre-selection exercise was conducted in all the provinces, including Kigali.Uncle Austine, Bruce Melode, Samputu and Kigali Live Band were among the entertainers of the night.The Miss Rwanda 2012 theme was, Beauty with a Purpose, with a Vision.