Entertainment / Celebrity
Miss Zimbabwe's bid for Miss World pageant doomed
20 Nov 2014 at 13:37hrs | Views
Miss Zimbabwe Tendai Hunda's bid to represent the country at the Miss World pageant looked doomed yesterday.
Hunda, who recently replaced Catherine Makaya as national beauty queen, was scheduled to leave for London yesterday but by late afternoon she still had not secured the necessary visa.
Modester Muvhuni, the Miss Zimbabwe Trust administrator, who was assigned to help Hunda get the United Kingdom visa, initially told the Daily News that she would confirm Hunda's trip by midday yesterday.
"We are optimistic that it will go through. We are still running around and these things are done by appointment," she said.
"We now have the invitation letter from Miss World and we will submit the visa application today (yesterday). I will definitely let you know on Hunda's visa by 12," she said.
But when the Daily News contacted her as scheduled she asked the Daily News to get in touch with her at 3pm.
The embattled Miss Zimbabwe Trust, which has crowned a record three national beauty queens in five months, insisted yesterday that it would get the required visa even though their application clearly didn't meet requirements.
Information obtained from the British Embassy in Harare yesterday shows that Hunda's visa application did not qualify for the Priority Visa Service.
"Ambassador Deborah Bronnert has the pleasure of announcing the introduction of a Priority Visa Service to UK visa customers in Zimbabwe. The Priority Visa Service will take five working days to process at a cost of $170 compared to the 15 working days processing of the normal visa. It is hoped that this will impact positively on our business customers," read part of the notice from the embassy.
Even if Hunda somehow manages to secure the visa, she could find herself unprepared for the global pageant's boot camp which starts in London today.
Miss Zimbabwe Trust chairperson Mary Chiwenga claimed early this week that Miss World organisers had approved the crowning of Hunda but a check on the global pageant's website yesterday showed deposed Catherine Makaya as this country's representative.
If Hunda fails to make it to London, it would amount to a huge anti-climax for Chiwenga who boldly promised to turn the struggling local pageant into an international beauty competition when she assumed control of Miss Zimbabwe Trust last year.
The Miss Zimbabwe project has been largely in tatters ever since Thabiso Phiri stepped down as Miss Zimbabwe in August following alleged a nude pictures scandal.
Phiri was then replaced by Makaya who was duly registered by Chiwenga's organisation to represent the country at Miss World on December 14.
But in a surprising turn of events, the Miss Zimbabwe Trust dethroned Makaya and replaced her with Hunda even though they had already registered the former as Zimbabwe's representative at the global show case.
Hunda, who recently replaced Catherine Makaya as national beauty queen, was scheduled to leave for London yesterday but by late afternoon she still had not secured the necessary visa.
Modester Muvhuni, the Miss Zimbabwe Trust administrator, who was assigned to help Hunda get the United Kingdom visa, initially told the Daily News that she would confirm Hunda's trip by midday yesterday.
"We are optimistic that it will go through. We are still running around and these things are done by appointment," she said.
"We now have the invitation letter from Miss World and we will submit the visa application today (yesterday). I will definitely let you know on Hunda's visa by 12," she said.
But when the Daily News contacted her as scheduled she asked the Daily News to get in touch with her at 3pm.
The embattled Miss Zimbabwe Trust, which has crowned a record three national beauty queens in five months, insisted yesterday that it would get the required visa even though their application clearly didn't meet requirements.
"Ambassador Deborah Bronnert has the pleasure of announcing the introduction of a Priority Visa Service to UK visa customers in Zimbabwe. The Priority Visa Service will take five working days to process at a cost of $170 compared to the 15 working days processing of the normal visa. It is hoped that this will impact positively on our business customers," read part of the notice from the embassy.
Even if Hunda somehow manages to secure the visa, she could find herself unprepared for the global pageant's boot camp which starts in London today.
Miss Zimbabwe Trust chairperson Mary Chiwenga claimed early this week that Miss World organisers had approved the crowning of Hunda but a check on the global pageant's website yesterday showed deposed Catherine Makaya as this country's representative.
If Hunda fails to make it to London, it would amount to a huge anti-climax for Chiwenga who boldly promised to turn the struggling local pageant into an international beauty competition when she assumed control of Miss Zimbabwe Trust last year.
The Miss Zimbabwe project has been largely in tatters ever since Thabiso Phiri stepped down as Miss Zimbabwe in August following alleged a nude pictures scandal.
Phiri was then replaced by Makaya who was duly registered by Chiwenga's organisation to represent the country at Miss World on December 14.
But in a surprising turn of events, the Miss Zimbabwe Trust dethroned Makaya and replaced her with Hunda even though they had already registered the former as Zimbabwe's representative at the global show case.
Source - dailynews
