Beauty contests in Malawi: Which way? 

Malawi has had beauty contests from time immemorial. During  Kamuzu Banda’s era, the contests were structured in such a way that government was involved.

However, with the coming of the multiparty dispensation, these pageants, which were stopped at some point during the one-party regime, returned, but this time organised by private individuals and oganisations.

The Miss Malawi, was organised by Carver Bhima, who registered the contest as a protected patent. For two years, 2017 and 2018, two media giants Zodiak Broadcasting Station and Nation Publications Limited hired the licence and organised the contest. But now four years after the last contest was held, the Miss Malawi is coming back.

While this is happening, Malawi has seen the mushrooming of other national contests with various names. They include Miss Culture Malawi, Miss Teen Malawi, Miss Christianity Malawi and Miss Teen Africa Malawi.

The question now is, with various private entities holding these contests, is there any order?

Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Culture spokesperson Symon Mbvundula said they have  noted the mushrooming of many beauty contests in the country some of which have similar objectives.

“As a ministry, for the creatives, we have engaged them and subjected the organisers to regulations for public entertainment. Sometimes we offer technical guidance for beauty pageants,” he said.

Mbvundula cited the newly launched Miss Culture Malawi, which he said has been working with the ministry from day one.

“Miss Culture Malawi is an example of how best to handle these things. Together we came up with a way of how best to mainstream arts and culture in their pageant,” he said.

The ministry’s spokesperson added that looking at the many new contests being introduced, they will soon come up with  comprehensive regulations which shall be enforced under the National Arts and Heritage Council.

“All organisers shall be required to first register with the council and will be subjected to specific guidelines and regulations for the benefit of the creatives industry,” said Mbvundula.

He, however, admitted that the current scenario makes it difficult for the ministry to come in and help identify the country’s representatives at international forums such as Miss World, Miss Universe and Miss Supranational among others.

On her part, Lush Africa Foundation chief executive officer, Lorraine Kjajic, whose foundation organisers Miss Culture Malawi, corroborated Mbvundula’s assertions that they are currently in talks to come up with proper regulations for the modelling industry.

“We encourage other players to come on board whose emphasis is on producing quality beauty pageants and not just doing them because others are also doing them,” she said.

Kjajic said Miss Culture Malawi is already affiliated to Miss Culture Global, which means the winner of the local pageant automatically goes to represent Malawi at the global stage.

She said as an organisation which has hosted the Miss Culture Malawi twice, they feel so far they have tried to maintain high standards.

“We are here to stay and we will definitely change Malawi’s fortunes on the international stage of beauty pageants,” said Kjajic.

On her part, Chimwemwe Buleya, one of the organisers of the yet-to-be-organised Miss Teen Malawi, said their contest is different from the others as it targets teenagers.

“This beauty pageant is different from other beauty pageants in the country. Our emphasis is on female empowerment and entrepreneurship,” she said.

Random interviews indicate that Malawians have somehow lost their faith in contests because they feel they are not regular.

On her part, Tina Kendrick, one of the organisers of this year’s Miss Malawi, said the comeback contest will be different as it will be more than just a beauty contest.

“This time, it will be a combination of beauty, grace and intelligence, artistic and refined elegance. Our team is working  above and beyond to make sure we bring back family friendly competition,” she said.

Modelling ethusiast Edna Balaka said: “I do not take these contests seriously anymore. They are held for a year or two and then they disappear. They need to be consistent.”

Another fan of beauty contests, Allysa Phiri said she loves the contests and would like to see them under government.

“I think government should take over or at least it should have a say and not leave everything to the private sector,” she said.