KIGALI LAST WEEKEND, marked the last stop of the Miss Rwanda 2022 provincial auditions which run throughout the past three weeks, leaving a total of 70 contestants selected from the country’s four provinces and Kigali City.

The search for the next queen who will replace crown holder Grace Ingabire has so far produced a series of key moments worth noting, with the beauty contest only in its early stages.

The New Times has picked five key moment that shaped the contest’s auditions:

PWDs give it a shot

Not a single young woman with disability had participated in Miss Rwanda in 12 years until 26-year-old Jeannette Uwimana, a contestant with hearing impairment, made the decision against all odds when she contested for a spot to represent Southern Province during the auditions held February 5, in Huye District.

She’s now a step away from making it to the boot camp after she was, alongside eight other young women, selected to represent the Southern Province during the next stages of the contest.

Kigali also recorded the highest representation ahead of the next stages. Courtesy photo

Uwimana will be joined by Fredda Umutoniwase in the next stages of the contest after the latter, who is also deaf, won a ticket to represent Kigali. Luck however, did not go Ruth Uwitonze’s way, as she struggled to impress the jury to represent Eastern Province. Uwitonze has a physically-impaired arm.   

Kigali leading the charts

Numbers indicate that Kigali records the highest representation in the next stages, the biggest turn up in auditions and the biggest number of girls who registered to participate in auditions.

In terms of registration, organisers of the beauty contest received 191 entries from Kigali compared to Eastern Province’s 98, Southern Province’s 81, Western Province’s 54 and 51 aspirants from Northern Province’s 51.

Kigali also leads other provinces in term of turn  up as last weekend’s auditions attracted 117 contestants compared to Eastern Province’s 76, Southern Province’s 51, Northern Province’s 43 while Western Province auditions attracted 34 contestants.

And, of the 70 contestants who passed the auditions, Kigali also records the highest representation ahead of the next stages with 29 contestants, followed by Eastern Province which has 14 representatives while each of Northern, Western and Southern Provinces nine apiece.

Muheto’s beauty makes headlines

It is unusual to see a judge hyping a contestant’s beauty like the jury did when they saw a contestant identified as Divine Muheto Nshuti walking before them prior to a Q&A session during the auditions held in Rubavu District in search of Western Province.

As soon as Muheto made her steps toward the stage, every member of the jury was apparently blown away by her beauty, recalling the moment Naomie Nishimwe’s photos got social media excited even before she passed Kigali auditions until she was crowned Miss Rwanda 2020.

Like Nishimwe, Muheto is already making headlines with many convinced that her beauty played a big part in securing a PASS despite not impressing the judges.

Attracted artists 

Miss Rwanda continues to attract young women from all walks of life and artists were not left behind after a number of artists varying from actresses and musicians to poets showed interest in participating in this year’s edition.

The likes of actresses Noella Niyomubeyi (Kigali), who is popular in both Papa Sava and Seburikoko series, Lynda Nkusi (Eastern) who acts in Nyaxo Comedy, poet Ruth Bahali (Kigali) and musician Olga Giramata (Eastern) were among a number of artists who were spotted auditioning for Miss Rwanda 2022.

The variety in the arts community starts to appear in Miss Rwanda soon after organisers lined up prizes for the Miss Talent, which is given to the most talented contestant.

Covid-19 control at its best

It is strictly a must for anyone involved in Miss Rwanda, from the organising team and the press, to contestants and the jury, to abide with protocols lined up during the contest. Otherwise, you get dropped once you don’t comply with any of the protocols.

While members of the press, beauty agent organisers and judges get tested with covid-19 prior to traveling to each of auditions venues, contestants, too, had to present the results of their covid-19 test and proof of vaccination before they are allowed to participate in auditions.

In addition to that, the public was not allowed to attend to leave no room for covid-19 infection and avoid the risks of spreading the virus.

Given the attention paid to control the pandemic among any Miss Rwanda personel, no single case has so far been reported positive.