Beauty pageants have for years been admired by many given the current initiatives put in place to empower young women. However, it has not been the same case for young men who have been claiming that similar opportunities should come their way too.
Mister Elegancy was the only platform for young men to showcase what they can offer to the country but it is nowhere to be seen since it last happened back in 2018 when Divic Niyirora won the crown.
To bridge that gender gap in pageants, Imanzi Ltd on Friday, December 17, announced the inaugural Mister Rwanda to give young men a chance to shine through the pageant.
"We have beauty pageants like Miss Rwanda which have been doing their part in playing a significant role toward empowerment of young women through opportunities brought on table in their beauty contests. That’s exactly the same Mister Rwanda wants to achieve as a special platform to empower young men,” said Moses Byiringiro, the CEO of Imanzi Ltd which is organising the contest.
Previously, a number of young men would face challenges, technical or financial, whenever they showed interest to represent the country at international pageants.
However, Byiringiro believes that Mister Rwanda comes to address all those challenges and instead help crown winners to prepare well for other pageants outside the country.
"We believe they won’t struggle anymore as long as we’re bringing a platform that can help them to smoothly participate at different international contests,” he said.
Young men aspiring to take part in the Mister Rwanda contest must be Rwandan, aged between 18 and 30 years, a high school graduate and must never have been sentenced.
Physical appearance and cultural values will also be taken into consideration.
According to the schedule, registration for the contest kicks off Saturday, December 18 via misterrwanda.rw and will run through the next seven days.
Auditions will commence on January 7, in Bugesera District for the selection of contestants who will represent Eastern Province before heading to Musanze on January 14, to select Northern Province representatives.
The selection will continue in Huye District on January 21, before concluding the audition in Kigali on January 28.
A total of 20 contestants will be selected throughout the auditions campaign. They will then go for a three-week boot camp at the National Ubutore Development Centre-Nkumba in Burera District.
The boot camp will begin on January 31 until February 11, just a day before the grand finale.
In the meantime, the public will be given a chance to vote for their favourite Mr Rwanda in a voting process that will take place from January 29 till February 11.
The winner of the contest will take the crown, a brand new Toyota Celica and twelve-month accommodation in an apartment, both courtesy of Tomtransfers.
He will also book a ticket to represent Rwanda at Mister Africa International 2022.
Organisers of the pageant in Rwanda revealed that negotiations for the accreditation to have representatives at the continental pageant are at 90 per cent as they seek rights to send their crown winner to the contest every edition.