adminMelissa Mpofu Showbiz Editor
A NEW Miss Zimbabwe will be selected in Harare today to replace former queen – Thabiso Phiri – who resigned last Friday due to peculiar and personal reasons.According to the Miss Zimbabwe Trust – organisers of the flagship beauty pageant – a new queen has to be selected as a matter of urgency as her name has to be sent to the Miss World organisers.
“It is now necessary for the Miss Zimbabwe Trust to select a new Miss Zimbabwe in light of the decision by Thabiso Phiri to relinquish the title due to reasons that are personal to her.
“The selection of the new Miss Zimbabwe to succeed Thabiso Phiri is an urgent matter because of the need to meet this week’s deadline for the submission of contestants for the Miss World pageant.
“In these circumstances, Miss Zimbabwe Trust will be selecting a new Miss Zimbabwe tomorrow (today) in Harare,” read part of e statement released by the Trust yesterday.
The deadline for countries to submit names of contestants representing them was last week. Phiri’s name had already been sent and had to be recalled after she resigned.
However, Miss Zimbabwe Trust chairperson Mary Chiwenga said they had communicated Phiri’s resignation with Miss World organisers and had been given a week to send a new contestants’ name. This means they only have three days left to send a new name.
Chiwenga – a former supermodel – said that a vacancy in the Miss Zimbabwe title was not filled through automatic succession by the next princess in line, meaning Miss Zimbabwe first princess Tendai Hunda’s hopes of automatically replacing Phiri have been blown.
The vacancy will instead be filled today by the top seven contestants who have been recalled to compete again.
“What this means is that Thabiso Phiri’s successor will be chosen from the remaining top seven who are available and willing to compete for the title”.
Unfortunately, Bulawayo will not have another go for the title as the city’s representative, Mellisa Chaka, was nowhere near the top 8 when the initial Miss Zimbabwe was crowned.
A new panel of judges including Supa Mandiwanzira, Dr Christina Grabowska, Dr Viviek Solanki, Adam Molai and Tinashe Tanyanyiwa will be responsible for the selection of the new queen.
The selection process will only be open to family members of the contestants, the Miss Zimbabwe Trust, media and auditors.
By resigning, Phiri may be asked to return her prize money of about $10,000 which she was given when she won. Fortunately, the vehicle which she was meant to have won is still parked at the Trust’s offices as she together with her princesses did not have drivers’ licences and could not be given the vehicles.
Online Reporter