Beauty brouhaha?

Winner Emily Kachote, 25

Many say the Miss World Zimbabwe beauty pageant is being unjustifiably militarised and that’s in bad taste.

The head of the Miss Zimbabwe Trust is supermodel Mary Chiwenga, née Mary Mubaiwa (left, arriving at the Independence Day celebrations), the wife of army commander Gen. Constantine Chiwenga. He is lending a hand to his new wife’s endeavours to make the pageant internationally recognised. The general has given a guard of honour, logistical expertise and a certain polish to local events leading up to the crowning of leading contenders.

The Miss Zimbabwe Trust headquarters are right across the street from my home address in Harare. They are neighbourly and cheerful neighbours and activities there with music are never intrusive and don’t go on too late. What’s more, it is comforting to have unusually friendly soldiers, not to mention the most presentable young women in Zimbabwe, in our neighbourhood. It must be a sought after duty for a soldier to be sent on a mission to help out at the Miss Zimbabwe Trust.

Good luck to them. Whatever there is to say for or against beauty and fashion pageants – Mary Chiwenga, a businesswoman in her own right, runs the LaChelle grooming, beauty and fashion house and a travel agency across the street too – is there any harm in the general helping young people chase a dream while they can? As long as it doesn’t cost the the struggling taxpayer…