Mr and Miss World Kenya beauty pageantry 2021 launched

The 30th edition of The Miss World Kenya Competition will take place on August 28 at The Trademark Hotel in a star studded event. The event, which did not take place last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic will be televised live as a reality TV show at the same venue.

This was announced yesterday morning by Ashleys CEO and Franchise Director of The Mr and Miss World Kenya Mrs Terry Mungai, at a morning event held at The Trademark Hotel to mark the launch of the pageantry competition.

“Although we notably skipped the event last year due to the pandemic, we are proud to announce that this year, we are back, bigger and better than we have ever been before”, said an elated Mungai.

“We hope to once again make our mark in the global map as has been the case in the previous years with beauty queens”.

Chief Administrative Secretary Ministry of Public Service and Gender Rachel Shebesh, who has also partnered with the franchise for the event was chief guest.

“In honour of Wangari Maathai’s 10th anniversary, the franchise is going green this year. Going green means embracing a way of life that enables us conserve the environment by reducing, reusing and recycling items. We have committed to plant over 3,000 trees,” said Mungai.

She added, “We are further excited to partner with CAS Shebesh for our Beauty with a Purpose project, in a bid to break the stigma surrounding mental health illness.”

Shebesh currently hosts a show, Shebesh Speaks, which raises awareness on mental health issues, and advocates against social stigma attached to the disease.

“I speak about my illness as a survivor and not a victim”, she said.

Shebesh has not shied away from speaking out about her experience living with bipolar disorder.

“We are here to champion the course that is mental illness. We cannot ignore that there has been a rise in mental health cases during this pandemic period. It is okay not to be okay, ni sawa kukosa kuwa sawa”, said the CAS.

“I am glad that Mr and Miss World Kenya through Mrs Terry Mungai, CEO of Ashleys Kenya Ltd have partnered with my show #ShebeshSpeaks”, a show on mental health that is hosted through Shebesh social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The objective of the show is to:

• Raise awareness on mental health issues
• Advocate against social stigma
• Discuss ways to make mental health care in Kenya a reality

Mental health discussions will form part of the participants in the Mr and Miss World 2021 event.

The event was also attended by Wavinya Maria, the reigning Miss World Kenya who finished 6th in The Miss World Competition held in London in 2019. Mr World Kenya 2019 Franklyne Asoyo was also in attendance.

“I always knew that my reign as Miss World Kenya would be like no other. I am grateful for the opportunity to have raised the Kenyan flag high as well as advocate for ending period poverty and providing sanitary towels in different counties in the country. It was an impactful experience”, said Wavinya.

The global event is set to take place in December in Puerto Rico. This will mark the event’s 70th anniversary.