After a two-year break, Malawi’s premier beauty pageant, Miss Malawi, will on November 28 make a comeback under new management.
The new management, Miss Malawi Organisation, has taken over from previous organisers, Alpha Arts who hosted the last edition in 2022.
Speaking in an interview yesterday, Miss Malawi Organisation creative director Godfrey Kambewa attributed the pageant’s absence to financial constraints.
“The return of Miss Malawi has been necessitated by our belief in the potential of young Malawian women as well as the creative industries in Malawi. The two-year break was due to limited funding and sponsorship,” he said.
According to him, the major challenge the previous pageants faced was low corporate interest in the creative industry. However, Kambewa noted that the trend is changing with companies now showing interest in supporting arts and culture.
This year, the organisers are introducing several changes to improve the competition with online applications scheduled to start on March 10 to April 30 followed by walk-in interviews in all three regions.
The pageant will also reintroduce the original Miss Malawi crown as part of celebrating its history and a focus on mentorship, advocacy, and long-term impact.
“Miss Malawi has to be a life-changing opportunity not just about fame but about coaching, mentoring, and capacity building. That is one of our biggest,” he said.
At least 30 contestants will be selected for a pre-elimination event in July in Blantyre where the top 12 will be chosen to compete in the grand finale.
To ensure sustainability, the Miss Malawi Organisation plans to run the pageant as a long-term project rather than a one-time event.
“We aim to make Miss Malawi self-sustaining by delivering an excellent event that attracts investors for future editions,” Kambewa said.
Meanwhile, Jescar Mponda, who won the title in 2022, has admitted that she struggled to make an impact due to a lack of structured support and funding.
“Funding has been a big problem and it affected my reign in a lot of ways, but looking forward I hope the organisers will make it better,” she said.
Mponda said she is positive and hopes that the organisers have learned from the previous years on what went wrong and right and that the experience will be different for the next beauty queen.
The competition is open to Malawian women aged between 18 and 29, who have never been married, have no children, and hold at least an Malawi School Certificate of Education qualification.
