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The Miss Zimbabwe Trust is caught in the eye of a storm after it emerged that they dethroned recently crowned Miss World Zimbabwe — Emily Kachote without seeing the said nude pictures.
The beauty Queen who was crowned on April 25 at Mermaids Pool Resort in Shamva was relieved of her duties days after being crowned, pending investigation by the Trust after tabloid newspaper H-Metro reported that she had nude pictures circulating on social media networks.
The Trust last week reached a decision to dethrone Kachote without seeing the said nude images, relying on coverage by H-Metro and Kachote’s confession.
To date, no one has seen the images, save for H-Metro. Fake pictures have, however, made the rounds on social media networks.
“We’ve not seen the pictures but the confession is enough. She admitted that she might have had a picture taken with/by a gentleman called Prosper and confessed to having been drunk in such a way that would’ve exposed her.
“We can’t have a Queen with a possibility of nude pictures circulating,” Miss Zimbabwe Trust spokesperson, Tendai Chirau said.
Our Harare Bureau which attended Kachote’s disciplinary hearing at the Miss Zimbabwe Trust offices in Harare last week, reported that Kachote claimed she never breached her Miss World Zimbabwe contract, disputing allegations that she had posed nude. She also challenged the Trust to produce the said nude pictures.
“I never posed nude. Having pictures taken by someone without my consent isn’t the same as posing nude. In my understanding, posing is when you’re taken a picture with your consent.
“In this case, I never posed for any nude photo and I stand by my statement. If there’s a photo, I still want to see it because I’ve not seen it. I can only be in breach of contract if I posed nude, which I didn’t,” Kachote said during the hearing.
Miss World Zimbabwe regulation Number 5 which the model is believed to have breached reads: “Winners of the Miss World Zimbabwe beauty pageant must not have posed nude professionally or socially in all forms of media.”
Added Kachote: “What method are they using to measure my probity? Why should I be judged based on being drunk in the past. Don’t they get drunk too? This is who I am.”
After the announcement of Kachote’s dethronement, sympathisers immediately took to social media networking sites to condemn the Trust’s decision to strip her of the crown.
“It’s very unfortunate that they act on emotions. Emily Kachote will have a tough time getting back but she’ll get back on her feet just like the other Miss Zimbabwe whose nude pictures were leaked and I’ve already forgotten her name.
“But people will not easily forget the Miss World Zimbabwe brand for its scandals. Hire a professional public relations firm to handle your issues and stop being a group of emotional individuals who feel if you expose someone then you look better. It all stinks,” posted radio personality — MisRed on her Facebook page.
Nokia Face of Africa 2005 finalist Greatmore Chatya said models like other youths, are a fun loving lot, adding that the Trust had been hard on Kachote.
“No model in this world is decent. Models do drink and party, in fact they party hard and it’s normal for anyone to lie at times to protect their personal data.
“Who said one has to be a virgin to contest? What’s so special about Miss Zimbabwe? It’s not like if you win it, you’ll get amazing things,” said the model who is now based in South Africa.
A Facebook user, Peshy wrote: “A serious organisation will not act on mere hearsay because people will always gossip. She might have confessed that the nude pictures might have been taken when she was drunk but without evidence of those pictures, it remains no case until those pictures are presented.
“The Miss Zimbabwe Trust should give this girl a second chance unless one of the conditions of taking part in Miss Zimbabwe is that one should be a state certified virgin and that you should never have had a life and history before being crowned.”
Public relations consultant — Marko Pritchard said the Miss Zimbabwe Trust should not have hung their dirty linen for all to see, considering that this was the second dethronement after another queen — Catherine Makaya was unseated last year for not attending the Trust’s meetings among other petty issues.
“If I were the public relations manager of either party, I would’ve spoken less about the issue and concentrated on a way forward. In PR, speaking the loudest doesn’t mean you’re driving your point, but it means you’re giving out more information to damage your brand,” Pritchard said.
Bulawayo-based legal practitioner Matshobana Ncube however said Kachote’s confession was enough to get her dethroned.
“The confession is enough evidence on its own to get her dethroned. Even if she’s arguing that there’re no pictures, the mere fact that she admitted is enough,” Ncube said.
He said Kachote’s case was only valid if she was disputing the process through which the confession was obtained.
“She should be reviewing the decision of whether or not her right to a lawyer was denied and if she was ambushed by the hearing.”
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