Miss Malawi first runner-up Ireen Navicha will represent Malawi at the 2026 Miss World pageant scheduled for August in Vietnam, with the Miss Malawi Organisation justifying that her age and community advocacy work were among the factors considered in her selection.
The decision leaves reigning Miss Malawi Thandie Chisi out of the international pageant despite expectations that the title holder would traditionally compete on the global stage.
Speaking in an interview, Miss Malawi Organisation public relations officer Stephen Mdala said they considered the requirements of Miss World, which focuses on contestants between the ages of 17 to 26 before settling for Navicha.
“Miss World takes contestants from the ages of 17 to 26 and Thandie is 27 now. Since we are going there for the first time in a long time, we opted for someone who is of the ages in between and has done a lot of advocacy work in her community when it comes to education advocacy,” he said.
Mdala said Chisi was considered for other international competitions, including Miss Supranational and Miss Universe, where the organisation believed she could perform well due to the nature and requirements of the pageants.
“We had other plans for Thandie Chisi where she was either going to Supra or Miss Universe, where we believed these were the pageants she would place well because of the niche and nature of the competitions. However, due to other internal reasons, supra did not happen,” he said.
Among others, Mdala said Navicha’s advocacy project; When a Mother is a Child, which focuses on supporting girls’ education, aligns with Miss World’s “Beauty with a Purpose” initiative.
He said the project, which Navicha started while she was still in school, has helped return about 100 girls to school, including some who dropped out due to early marriages.
“Her project is a prototype of a global project by Unicef and it already had global backing as well. This is the kind of story we want to take to Miss World,” he said.
Miss Malawi coordinator Godfrey Kambewa said the selection was part of a wider process after the organisation received licenses for five international pageants, including Miss World, Miss Supranational, Miss International, Miss Universe and Miss Grand.
He said the organisation had to consider which pageant best aligned with Malawi’s story and which contestant had the qualities to represent the country on that particular platform.
“It was not a random selection. It was a carefully thought-out process. We looked at our young women and asked ourselves which story we want to tell and who can best carry that story on those stages,” said Kambewa.
While the decision has attracted mixed reactions on social media, Chisi in an interview said she has welcomed the judgement considering the pageant’s requirements, including age and the nature of advocacy work.
She said Malawians should focus on celebrating the opportunity because the country has for a long time been without representation at Miss World.
“It is quite disappointing to see how people have reacted on social media because we would have done better. For a long time, we haven’t had anyone representing Malawi on the global stage and this should be something we should all be proud of. I will support her,” said Chisi.
Navicha said she views the opportunity to represent Malawi at Miss World as a blessing and that she is honoured by the trust placed in her to represent the country.
“As I go to the Miss World stage with Malawi, I am going to represent the country the best way possible. Thank you Miss Malawi for trusting me, I am grateful. I don’t see this as just a crown but a responsibility,” she said.
Malawi first featured at the Miss World pageant in 2001 when Elizabeth Pullu represented the country, followed by Ella Claudette Kabambe in 2010 and Susan Mtegha in 2012.
