Regional auditions for the upcoming Miss Rwanda 2016 beauty pageant are on. The first auditions will be held at the Virunga Hotel in Musanze District, Northern Province, this Saturday, January 9. 

The following day, January 10, the auditions will move to the Western Province, at the Gorilla Hotel in Rubavu, while the Southern Province will have its auditions on January 16, at Hotel Credo.

On January 17, the Miss Rwanda crew will be in the Eastern Province, whose auditions will be held at the Eastland Hotel. And on January 23, the last auditions will be held in Kigali, at the Sports View Hotel in Remera.

The grand finale will be held on February 27, 2016, at the Camp Kigali.

According to Dieudonne Ishimwe, the organiser of the pageant, five contestants will be picked from each Province –bringing the total to 25.

The deadline for registration is 12p.m on Saturday, January 9.

Now in its fourth edition since its inception in 2009, the Miss Rwanda organisers have consolidated their position in the industry of the fascinating beauty pageants, as the largest and most important beauty contest in the country. Unlike previous years, the management has introduced a new item to this year’s pageant –the Imihigo (performance contracts): "This (Imihigo) is all about seeing how Miss Rwanda can be an event with impact, especially in the provinces and districts, where the respective finalists can do something positive in their communities,” explained Ishimwe.

The winner for this year’s Miss Rwanda beauty pageant will walk away with a brand new Suzuki Swift 2015 model, and a monthly salary of Rwf800,000, a slight increment from the Rwf700,000 that last year’s winner, Doriane Kundwa has been earning.

After the Kigali auditions on January 23, the contestants will engage in a string of other activities in preparation for the grand finale on February 27.

On January 30, the girls will join other Kigalians in the monthly community work; Umuganda in Kigali City. While February 6 has been set aside for the pre-selections, at which the number of participants will be cut down from 25 to 15.

This year’s boot camp, at the Golden Tulip La Palisse, Kigali will be held on February 8, after which contestants will engage in one more activity before the finale – the Igitaramo njya Rugamba, also at the Tulip La Palisse Hotel, on February 27.

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