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28/06/2011
Gumisai Makombe is Miss African Spirit 2011. The Zimbabwean stunner beat 25 other contestants, from 11 different African countries to win the unique title. The event was held in the fresh UK city of Milton Keynes at the swanky Ramada Encore hotel on Saturday.
According to press reports, Miss African Spirit will get involved in charitable work for a cause of her choice. With the tagline “its about charity, its about beauty, its about people of African heritage” the pageant attracted stunning models from Tanzania, Uganda, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Namibia, Angola, Nigeria, South Africa, and Zambia. On the panel were, Miss Universe England, Jayne Taylor and entrepreneur Anfor Farooque. Miss Zimbabwe of 1993 Karen Stally, who is also an RnB singer and was aslo judging the contest.
Miss African Spirit pageant director, Michelle Adams was quoted as saying that; “Part of the pageant’s appeal and the reason why it has already proven very popular is that it sets itself apart from all other pageants. We don’t have size, height or weight restrictions on the part of the contestants.”
Michelle also said that “There is also no swimwear round. In this day and age where pageants are glorified fashion shows, where it seems slimmer, ‘size zero’ models are the order of the day, the Miss African Spirit has challenged that perspective and has proven that indeed size does not matter,” she added.
Gumisai’s predecessor, Nonhlahla Togwe is also from Zimbabwe. The Miss African Spirit pageant’s main goal is to instil a sense of pride and confidence in young women of African heritage by promoting the culture and identity within the wider community and providing a positive image with which to identify. It seems the pageant is doing as such and is here to stay.
