CURRENT NUMBERS show that about 400 young women are aspiring to contest for the Miss Rwanda 2022 crown, before the auditions kick off this weekend.

Organisers revealed that the turn up has significantly been on the rise since the registration opened in December.

Meghan Nimwiza, the Communications Director of Miss Rwanda Organisation, which organises and manages the annual beauty contest, told The New Times that increasing the prizes and the number of contestants targeting the prizes has been behind the rise in numbers of aspirants.

"The turn up in registration for the auditions is pretty impressive compared to last year’s edition. It shows that young women are getting more interested in participating in Miss Rwanda because the prizes have been increased,” Nimwiza told The New Times on Sunday, January 23.

The current numbers, which could increase any time given the fact that registration remains open until the conclusion of auditions, are likely to surpass last year’s edition which attracted 416 aspirants.

Registration is ongoing via missrwanda.rw and the first auditions will take place in Northern and Western provinces on January 29 and 30 respectively.

The editions will continue to the South and East on February 5 and 6 respectively, before Kigali City hosts the final auditions on February 12.

Pre-selection of the beauty queens is slated for February 26, and will move to the boot camp the next day, whereas the finale will take place on March 19, 2022.

This year's auditions will be held physically as opposed to last year’s auditions which were held virtually, as physical gatherings were restricted to contain the spread of covid-19.

However, organisers will make sure that physical auditions are held on condition that they respect the current guidelines set up to prevent the spread of the pandemic among contestants and any individuals involved in the beauty contest.

Besides fulfilling the criteria set up to be allowed to compete at this year’s edition, aspirants will be required to present at least a covid-19 rapid test result and proof that they are vaccinated with two doses of the vaccine.

Young women aspiring to participate at the upcoming beauty pageant should, among other criteria, be Rwandan by Nationality as shown by ID card or Passport, and is at least a secondary school graduate. 

They should also not have given birth before and must be prepared not to get married during her reign.

Like last year, any young woman will be allowed to participate in Miss Rwanda 2021 as long as they are in a healthy range Body Mass Index (BMI).