13 Jun 2016

The race for the coveted title of Miss Botswana has begun with a panel of four judges traversing the country in search of a girl with beauty and brains.

From Palapye to Selibe Phikwe and from Francistown to Maun, a panel of judges finally landed at Cumberland Hotel in Lobatse on Saturday.

At the hot seat was Botswana Council of Women representatives, Bogadi Ngwako, Dorcus Thobega, former queen Tapiwa Preston and socialite, make up artist and fashionista, Thomamo Moje.

Already a total of 48 girls had auditioned country wide, with 16 from Lobatse.

Various types; tall, slim, slender, dark and light skinned girls came in to try their luck  hoping to make part of the Top 30 that will be selected to strut their  stuff in Gaborone come July 29.

Miss Botswana coordinator, Thobega said in an interview after the auditions that she was happy with the turn out in Lobatse and was looking forward to the Gaborone auditions which would be held this coming weekend.

So far, she said a panel of judges have not had any hiccups, adding that the girls who had auditioned  have shown a lot of intelligence and confidence.

“From these auditions, the judges will and select the Top 30 girls who will have made it to the finals,” she said.

Before going for the finals, she indicated that the girls would then go into boot camp where their skills would be honed to ensure that they were confident enough.

For his part, Moje said the girls seemed confident and had skills that were required to meet the Miss Botswana standards.

He said they were looking for a girl who is confident, exhibiting the right personality and had a body fit for a beauty queen.

Ngwako promised Batswana a fun filled day come July 29 and said everything was in place to crown the most beautiful girl in the country. 

She said Botswana Council of Women has made a decision to run the pageant without engaging a private company like in the past.

This year, she said BCW partnered with Ministry of Youth Sport (MYSC) and Culture, a thing she said was a great move in ensuring that all Miss Botswana deliverables and targets were met. 

She said MYSC, though has always assisted with funds, this time around came in as a partner considering that Botswana was celebrating its 50^th anniversary and had to make a big impact in the running and organisation of the pageant.

For her part, Preston said she was impressed with the girls who came for the audition as they exhibited a lot of energy, had brilliant presentation skills.

She said she was happy to be part of a panel of judges as former Miss Botswana and was willing to share her skills with the girls who would go to boot camp.

The last girl to audition in Lobatse was 24-year-old Veronica Nkatogang from Tutume said she was hopeful that she would it to the Top 30.

She added that it would be a dream come true to walk on the ramp at the most prestigious pageant in the country. 

She said it was her dream to audition in the past, but could not make it due to financial challenges.

Nkatogang who holds a Diploma in Travel Management from Gaborone Technical College said this time around, she managed to raise P300 audition fee.

Though she said she was nervous as it was her first time to audition, she was hopeful that her other features would see her through to the Top 30.ENDS