BY: Aminata Sameena Sesay
Nine (9) beauty pageant applicants that met the criteria, from the over 20 (twenty) young women that applied are to take part in the 2022 Miss Freetown Beauty Contest, after successfully going through the auditioning and unveiling at the Freetown City Hall last Saturday. The theme for this year’s competition is titled: “Girl Power and Community Engagement”.
The contest will be organized by Lake Production Sierra Leone in collaboration with Eminence Africa Holdings Limited.
The 9 (nine) contestants unveiled were, Elizabeth Chelsea Lahai representing the New England Ville Community, Esther Grace Jones-Wilberforce Community, Daisy Princess Abdullah from Brookfields, Lillian Isatu Kargbo -Calaba Town, Saffinatu Zainab Bangura - Portee Community, Bintu Michaela Fofanah representing Aberdeen, Zainab Tarawally-Lumley, Deborah Charm – Fourah Bay Community and Grace Hawanatu Marrah -Dwazark Community.
Giving an overview of the competition, the Executive Director of Miss Freetown, Esther .Y. Kamara noted that she was pleased to be part of the 4th edition of the unveiling ceremony for this year’s competition. She stated that, the competition has been slated for the 26th December, 2022 at the Family Kingdom resort.
She pointed out that, the event is not just based on facial beauty but also individual intelligence and smartness of the ladies count a lot. She stressed that the primary goal of the competition is to promote the “HANDS OFF OUR GIRLS” campaign initiated by the First Lady of Sierra Leone, Fatima Bio.
She further said that, the beauty pageant is geared towards mentoring young girls, increasing their self-confidence, improving their leadership skills and empowering them to contribute meaningfully to society through modeling and fashioning.
Kamara revealed that a platform will be created where contestants can advocate for their respective community. She further stated that Lake Production and Eminence Africa signed a two-year contract agreement to organize the Miss Freetown beauty pageant, to foster growth in the entertainment industry in the country.
The Executive Director of Eminence Africa Limited who also doubles as the Executive Coordinator and Producer of the Miss Freetown beauty pageant, Sarah Laura Solomon explained that, this year’s application for the competition was opened to the public. She referred to the successful pageants as “The Chosen Ones” after going through a rigorous audition to make it to the competition.
Solomon said that, the contestant will be hosted in a boot camp where they will be trained and groomed from the 19th to 26th October 2022 the slated day for the event. She added that the 9 contestants will be representing their various communities and that the winner of the Miss Freetown pageant will automatically represent Freetown in the Miss Sierra Leone competition.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Eminence Africa Holdings Limited, Benedict Solomon pointed out that the grand prize for this year’s competition will be NLe 100,000 (one hundred thousand New Leones). He stated that, the total grand prize will be divided into two folds with NLe 50,000 (fifty thousand New Leones) in cash and the other NLe 50,000 (fifty thousand New Leones) in the form of prizes.
He reiterated that, there will be prizes for the 1st and 2nd. When asked about the identity of the judges, he said they will be disclosed on the day of the event.
The contestants shared their excitement on how opportune they were to be part of this year’s competition. They also stated that, they will take this opportunity given to them and make the best out of it.
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