06 Mar 2024

Botswana has hopes and intentions of hosting Miss World pageant in 2026, executive director of Miss Botswana, Benjamin Raletsatsi said during a media brief today.

The year 2026 marks 60 years of Botswana’s independence, and Raletsatsi said by hosting Miss World pageant, they would be able to showcase the beauty of Botswana in people, wildlife, governance and financial management, all of  which have been the cornerstone of the tranquil and stability that is Botswana.

He said Botswana was ready to host Miss World, adding that it was a representative of what it meant to be beautiful. 

“This had become an easy narrative for us, as we aspire for this opportunity and Lesego is currently doing that for us, showing the world what it means to come from a country that has diamonds as a foundation. 

And having to use those diamonds to develop its people to where we are now,” Raletsatsi said.

Miss World finale is scheduled for Saturday, in India, where the hopes of Batswana will be carried by Lesego Chombo, who has been making strides at this global stage, and excelling at most of the challenges, putting her in great position to be in the finals of the pageant on Saturday.

Her achievements to date included; Head to Head challenge winner, Beauty With a Purpose top 10 finalist and Top Model Africa winner. 

She had also been in the top 14 finalist of Talent Competition, winner of 200m race at sports finals challenge and second place in beep challenge.

As she prepares for her final walk on Saturday, Chombo will not only be beaming with pride at her successful achievements, but she will be bejewelled with a P70m Lucara diamond necklace. 

“Lesego is a Motswana, a diamond baby going into Miss World. So, she will be wearing a stone that was discovered in Lucara in 2019 and it was 110 carats and now produced into 15 polished stones. And one of them is 33 carat stone, a penchant that Lesego will be wearing,” said Lucara Botswana managing director, Naseem Lahri.

Lahri said as Lesego wears the piece at the Miss World stage, she would be bringing pride to Botswana as it was a Botswana stone, and Botswana was the world’s producer of quality diamonds.

She said this wzas the right moment to get the piece on a Motswana, having been worn by international celebrities such as Beyoncé, Naomi Campbell and Kendall Jenner among others. ends