East African Business Week (Kampala)
Brian Coutinho
22 November 2008
In the first ever Miss Burundi beauty pageant, Miss Alida Kaneza scooped top honours to carry away the coveted prize as Miss Burundi 2008. The Miss Burundi 2008 event was ground breaking in other ways.
Other such events had been organized before, Miss Bujumbura, Miss Anti-tobacco and Miss Tanganyika, but this was the first event of national character. It is also the only such officially recognized event, the organizers having gone through the official channels of recognition and registration with the ministries of youth, culture and gender. The organizers went a step further to register the Miss Burundi pageant as a label with the accruing intellectual property rights.
Initially, the organizers, headed by a publicity professional, Miss Chantal Inamahoro, had an uphill task getting the whole event to a start. For starters, it was not easy to attract sponsors. Then, due to the culture of modesty in Burundi, it was a tricky business mobilizing attractive young girls. There were several showcase events held for publicity and eventually the momentum gathered enough sponsors to pull it off.
Novotel, where the event was held, was packed on November 15, 2008. The occasion was officiated by the Minister for Regional Integration. The jury was composed of several journalists, a prominent Burundi artist Ngabo Leonce and two expatriates from the French and Netherlands Embassies.
The overall winner, Miss Alida Kaneza, received a brand new sofa set from GTS and a make-over paint job for her parent's home by Groupe Ladak. She also got a new wardrobe and a monthly salary for the duration of her reign. The first runner up, Miss Evelyn Nkurunziza and the second runner up Miss Panafrica Marie Claire get to fly Air Burundi to Entebbe and Kigali respectively. Miss Congeniality was Miss Ornella Muhimpundu.
The organizers of the event plan to make this an annual event and will work with various stakeholders including the Ministry of Tourism to use this as a marketing tool for Burundi. In plan is the production of a calendar for 2009, featuring all the participants of the pageant, from which they will get some pay.
The next event is to be held around July or August during the summer holiday when most Burundians will be on holiday and the big diasporan contingent will be at home.
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