Mohalenyane Phakela
THE first ever international pageant in Lesotho featuring 10 countries will be held from 1 to 4 November this year at Mmelesi Lodge in Thaba Bosiu with the grand finale on 5 November at AVANI Lesotho Hotel in Maseru.
The Miss Queen of the Globe International is the brainchild of pageant organiser, Limakatso Makutle, and it will feature 35 contestants in the three categories of Little Miss Queen of the Globe (ages 4 to 12), Miss Teen (13 to 17) and Miss Queen of the Globe (18 to 28).
Contestants are expected from India, Panama, Brazil, Nigeria, Cameroon, Sudan, Liberia, Ghana, South Africa and the host nation, Lesotho.
Speaking to the Weekender this week, Makutle said that each country was free to bring any number of participants.
“I organised this pageant so that we could have something we own and gave birth to as Basotho,” Makutle said.
“The aim is to rotate the pageant among different countries as is the case with other international pageants and each country is not limited in terms of the number of participants it can bring.
“Lesotho will have five representatives while others will have four, three and one. The judges will be drawn from the participating countries.”
Lesotho will be represented by Miss Queen of Tourism – Lesotho and Miss Personality at Miss Planet Mapitso Hlophe, Little Miss Lesotho, Hlompho Letsika (Little Miss Lesotho), Reatile Molefe (Miss Teen), Khalala Ramotso and Bokamoso Mokotjo (all Little Miss Lesotho).
Makutle appealed to the corporate sector and the public to support the pageant, saying it could contribute to tourism.
“The sad case about us in Lesotho is that pageants barely get recognition and I think it is because stakeholders do not understand how important they are to tourism hence our struggle to get funding every time we have to go for international pageants.
“It is not easy to host a pageant as Basotho do not understand the need to support them and that in turn lowers the attendance. The future of this baby depends entirely on the reception our guests will get so I plead with locals to support it.
“Another problem here at home is the issue of accommodation as our hospitality outlets are not willing to sponsor us by giving the participants discounted accommodation although these people will posting on social media promoting such a hotel, which is free marketing. The other thing is discounted prices means they will come in great numbers thus, bringing more money into the country while learning more about the beauty on this Kingdom,” she said.
