13 May 2019

Francistown will host this year’s President’s Day fashion show competitions.

Francistown District coordinator for Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sports and Culture Development (MYSC), Minkie Bokole said during a press briefing in Francistown recently that the regional competition would be held on June 15 while nationals would on July 12.

The show will be held under the theme “creative industry, a vehicle for sustainable development.”

She said the ministry would use the platform to use fashion designers and models to address challenges bedevilling the city.

 “The opportunity to host such an exciting event comes at the right time when the ministry is faced with issues of drugs and alcohol abuse amongst the youth in Francistown,” she said.

She said the ministry was prepared to work closely with fashion designers and models in Francistown to communicate the message on behavioural change and character building to address social ills in the city.

She highlighted that fashion designers and models would undertake a project to address issues affecting the youth.

Ms Bokole said it was time for the city to be appreciated for its uniqueness and the talent that was within the city, adding that it was right to do as Francistown has been branded as the district of choice.

She said financial institutions would also be engaged to find ways of working together to improve arts industry in Francistown.

Meanwhile, Bokole has also expressed concerns about the low turn up of participants in the President’s Day Competitions in the city saying out of 571 who people had registered for the competitions during 2017/2018 financial year, only 379 participated in the competitions.

“In 2018/2019, a total of 477 people had registered but only 303 people turned up,” she said.

This financial year, she said they had recorded 530 people who had shown interest to participate in the competitions.

And she was hopeful that more people would participate in the competitions as compared to the previous years. 

For her part, Francistown-based fashion designer, Catherine Batshabang acknowledged MYSC for its support towards the development of the arts industry in Francistown.

Through the ministry’s support, she said her husband, who is also her business partner, had attended the Ghana Fashion Week last year. END