Miss Uganda returns after 3-year hiatus

After three years of the Miss Uganda pageant not happening due to the Covid-19 disruptions, the beauty show is back and as early as March, Uganda will know its new beauty queen.

Under the theme “Beauty Beyond Looks”, the franchise is holding regional selections which they had taken a break from, with the addition of West Nile.

The search for the next beauty queen will start in Arua from January 9 to 11 and on to Gulu from January 12 to 14, Fort Portal from January 16 to 18, Masaka from January 19 to 21, Jinja from January 26 to 28 and then to Kampala for the final pre-selection from February 1 to 2.

The grand finale will be on March 17, 2023. According to Brenda Nanyonjo, the organizer of Miss Uganda, for the girls who want to contest, the applicant must be between 18 and 25 years, a Ugandan in possession of a national identity card or passport, with minimum education level of senior six. She should not be married or engaged to be married, not a divorcee and should not have any visible tattoos.

“For the first time, we have also introduced a registration fee of Shs 20,000 which every contestant will pay when they come to audition,” Nanyonjo said.

Kevin Zziwa, CEO Kezzi Entertainment Ltd, the license owners of Miss Uganda, said they have partnered with StarTimes to have the Miss Uganda competitions showcased as a reality TV show.

The show will include a residential boot camp, beauty and fashion contests, the beach beauty and sports challenge and the adventure and talent contests. It will also have periodic evictions, confession cameras, audience interactivity, all before the crowning ceremony.

“We have been asked so many times what we do and teach these girls while in boot camp … we are going to be showing the behind-the-scenes of the Miss Uganda competition and show the viewers what the girls go through [for one to be] crowned Miss Uganda,” Zziwa said.

Journey to the Crown starts showing in January on StarTimes’ Makula Channel from 8 pm, from Friday to Sunday. We last had a Miss Uganda in July 2019, where Oliver Nakakande was crowned winner. However, in April 2021, Elizabeth Bagaya, who was Nakakande’s first runner-up was named Miss Uganda, because Nakakande had gone abroad to pursue her studies and was unable to execute duties of her office.

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