Chris Theko
A national queen will miss out on a chance to compete at the global pageant for the first time since Lesotho’s return to the Miss World contest a decade ago.
Miss World 2021 will be on its 70th extravagant pageant set for December 16, 2021 at the Jose Miguel Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and the reigning Miss Lesotho; Tiisetso Seliane will not be party to the contest.
The current Queen of the world, Toni-Ann Singh of Jamaica will crown her successor at the end of the event.
A statement released by the organisers of Miss Lesotho cited lack of preparedness as one of the reasons for the decision not to take part in this year’s Miss World stage.
“Our vision for Lesotho is to grace the World stage being 100% prepared and ready to make a mark and cement itself. Unfortunately the setbacks related to the pandemic that we have experienced will not enable us to have Lesotho represented as best as we would have hoped.
“We look forward to returning to the Miss World stage in 2022 and wish the Miss World organization a successful 70th edition,†reads the statement by Miss Lesotho organisers.
In an interview with Newsday Arts the Miss Lesotho National Director Mululela Monyake said participating at the Miss World stage requires a lot of preparation and that was their biggest concern during evaluation.
“Visiting one orphanage and donating pads or shoes is just not enough. We need to do valuable work if our aim is to qualify for placements,†Monyake said adding that there is a need to first make a difference at home.
She added that the Covid-19 pandemic limited human interaction in response to human safety and well-being hence it was a challenge for Miss Lesotho to host fundraisers for neither its projects nor the trip.
“We did not get enough time to organize for the trip as a whole due to restrictions on human interaction as a result of Covid-19, however, we could have still been easy to say here is M20 000, let us just go but what is the point of going if we are merely accompanying others.
“During my time as the director, I want Miss Lesotho to be hundred percent prepared for every aspect of the competition. I want Lesotho to go and our presence to be felt, I no longer want Lesotho to be just another country that was there,†she said.
The Miss World was originally scheduled for the end of 2020 but postponed due to the global Covid-19 pandemic. The pageant is the oldest-running international beauty contest that was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951.