14 Nov 2016

 The acting President, Mr Mokgweetsi Masisi, has beseeched 14 finalists of the Miss RADP 2016 to be proud of their home villages.

The contestants were given an opportunity to meet and greet Mr Masisi as part of their mentoring.

“I am proud to have hosted the team of contestants. There is need for beauty queens to be appreciated since they have potential to be ambassadors of their country,” he said.

He implored the contestants to love, appreciate and market their villages.

“You should love, appreciate your home villages and be the ambassodors of your villages,” he said.

Mr Masisi said government took the decision to increase participation of young women from remote areas in the mainstream development thus building their self esteem and resilient communities through Miss RADP.

“The pageant also seeks to identify talent and bring about inclusiveness and behavior change to these communities,” he said. 

Mr Masisi said Miss RADP was one of the initiatives meant to bring services closer to disadvantaged people who were far from the mainstream developments. 

 “The pageant also seeks to identify talent and bring about inclusiveness and behaviour change to these communities.  You are part of the exciting stories for your villages. You should show pride by showing your beauty in an inspiring way so as to sell your villages and as a result, be equal to every other Motswana from any village,” he said.

For her part, the Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Ms Botlogile Tshireletso said the pageant organisers sought to identify talent and bring about inclusiveness and behavior change to the communities. 

 “The beauty of this competition is that it is a platform for young women from remote area communities to showcase their talent and by so doing gain confidence to participate in other prestigious pageants such as Miss Botswana, Miss World, Miss Universe,” she said. BOPA