28 Dec 2020

Miss Independence Botswana 2020 Queen, Olebeng Moje will represent the country in the Miss Africa Calabar beauty pageant to be held in Lagos, the capital of Nigeria on December 30.

In an interview in Gaborone, the Director of Miss Independence Botswana, Gaonyafale Phuti said Moje left the country on December 22.

She said the pageant was initially slated for December 27, but due to some logistics it was postponed to a later date.

She said Moje would battle for the crown with other contestants from Angola, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria. Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe,

Phuti said due to the COVID-19 safety measures, the pageant would be held partly virtual and live, saying contestants and a panel of judges would be live from one place while majority of audience would connect through different virtual platforms.

Phuti further said the purpose of the pageant was to appreciate, showcase and celebrate different cultural aspects from different African countries.

Meanwhile, Phuti said Moje’s participation at Miss Africa Calabar was almost crippled by lack of sponsorship to take care of travelling expenses and other necessities during her short stay in Nigeria.

However, she said Miss Independence Crew and Moje’s family had to dig deep into their pockets to assist.

She further urged the local community to keep voting for Moje, saying public votes in this pageant were crucial as they enabled the contestants to be on the top three. Ends