Having spoken to the Informante publication, our reigning queen and Miss Namibia Selma Kamanya shares light in the darkness of Miss Namibia.
Many of the information shared, a lot of people where not aware of it all, Selma briefly states ” this is my experience, raw and unfiltered”.
Kamanya then adds “this disclosure is not meant as defamatory, but it aims to share my true journey during the term of my reign. I hope that this naked truth will offer some pearls of wisdom and urgent change so that future Miss Namibia’s can genuinely harness the strength, of what this role can offer them and the country”.
Going into detail, when Selma Kamanya had to represent Namibia in the Miss World pageant last year and unlike most countries at such pageants, she had to represent Namibia alone by with no team to assist with the rigorous schedule and obligations that would’ve enabled her to stand a real chance of grabbing the crown for a second time.Â
“This often leaves Miss Namibia poorly prepared, poorly resourced and under tremendous pressure.” All these left Selma Kamanya traumatized when those who were entrusted with her well being as Miss Namibia often shared insults with sponsors and their contacts.Now one wonders if these type of behavior will continue or will change come about the Miss Namibia pageant. The same type of comments she received can also be witnessed as it happened with the 2019 contestants. In terms of finances, she says
“In my year of reign, my spending of personal funds quadrupled as I found out that as Miss Namibia I had to cover much of the expenses from personal funds. The impact of this was felt most severely by my parents, who had to sustain me continually”Â
“Bluntly speaking, there was no real monetary reward or otherwise for becoming an ambassador for Namibia through this platform, despite the many sacrifices one has to make for the benefit of the title” says Selma Kamanya leaving some questions towards the Miss Namibia organizers unanswered.
“These difficult circumstances are sadly also not communicated or shared with contestants before or during the process. It only comes as a rude awakening after the crowning. As far as I know NDTC as main sponsor gave N$ 300,000 towards the pageant. I received N$ 18,000 cash prize, broken down as N$ 10,000 from NDTC, N$ 4,000 from Standard Bank as well as N$ 4,000 from Emanya@Etosha. Of this sum, I only received the first N$ 8,000 after numerous requests, including pleadings by my mother. I have since visited sponsors that have informed that they have given cash prizes to the pageant, of which I know nothing about.”
Selma Kamanya concludes the interview she had by saying
“I would encourage Mrs Maritz to avail the public funds invested in this pageant and its proportion to what a Miss Namibia would be entitled to a winner. This information should be public as it was many years ago. This goes along with transparency because the silos in which it is currently handled diminishes the trust of the pageant on many fronts
I thank you.”
