RALC clears air on Miss Rwanda 2017

The Rwanda Academy of Language and Culture (RALC) has dismissed rumours that have been circulating lately that Miss Rwanda beauty pageant 2017 had been called off. Speaking to The New Times, on Wednesday, RALC executive secretary Dr James Vuningoma, said what had been cancelled was the tender for the organisation of the Miss Rwanda project but not the project itself. “Claims that the Miss Rwanda project was cancelled are baseless rumours. What was cancelled was the tender, but we are in negotiations with the Rwanda Public Procurement Authority (RPPA) on how best this can be handled,” he said. RPPA issued the directive to suspend the tender after receiving a complaint from one of the bidders who was not satisfied with the outcome of the bidding process, Dr Vuningoma said. “The complaint from one of the bidders had to revert the whole process. We are in talks with RPPA to start the bidding process all over again,” he added. When contacted, officials at RPPA confirmed the development yesterday. “There were two bidders initially and one of the bidders complained to us about her dissatisfaction with the bidding process and we considered the issue and later advised RALC to cancel the whole tender process and define the whole tender process appropriately,” Augustine Seminega, the Director General, RPPA, said in a statement sent to Saturday Times yesterday. He added: “They are going to confirm the conditions more appropriately and then speed up the process of identifying the company that is going to be responsible for organising Miss Rwanda Pageant.” RALC is a government institution affiliated to the Ministry of Sports and Culture to support the implementation of policies related to the mandate of the ministry, concerning the promotion of culture. Founded in 2009, Miss Rwanda ensures that the winner adheres to the set rules and behaves in a manner acceptable of beauty queens, to make certain that the institution of Miss Rwanda is respected. 19-year old Jolly Umutesi is the reigning Miss Rwanda. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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RALC clears air on Miss Rwanda 2017