Miss Malawi 2012 in limbo, no funds to run competition
Almost a year after the reigning Miss Malawi, Susan Mtegha, was ushered into office, preparations towards identifying her successor should have been at an advanced stage by now.
However, Nyasa Times has learnt that Miss Malawi 2012 might not be happening because the event’s organisers, Artistic Agency, do not have funds to run the competition, which was last held on 30 October, 2011.
A source told Nyasa Times:“The organisers do not have money to pay for the license [to run the Miss Malawi event]” which is currently owned by Events Management Limited.
And in an interview on Monday, Artistic Agency director, Vitumbiko Kamanga, admitted they might not be in a position to hold the event this year, “unless a miracle happens”.
“There are deep financial hitches to do with the licensing versus the actual budget needed to run the pageant. Everything has gone up, so it has become more expensive to run [the event],” Kamanga said.
Nyasa Times has also established that the agency is still struggling settle bills that were accumulated during last year’s competition won by Mtegha as some companies failed to fulfil their pledges to cover the costs as sponsorship.
“We have people on our case for those bills and lawyers involved. As a national event, we feel the burden shouldn’t be on us alone,” revealed Kamanga, saying no one is forthcoming yet to sponsor the 2012 event which should have been held this month.
Nyasa Times has also learnt that the agency still owe Events Management Limited the license fee balance as well as a bill for the place where the 2011 contestants lodged in Lilongwe.
According to Artistic Agency, they need about K13 million to run the pageant this year, including a fee for the license as well as money to send the winner to next year’s Miss World.
The agency has been running the event from 2010 and has been operating the Miss Malawi office without funding from government or the corporate world as is the case in other countries.
Recently, the agency failed to source funds to send the reigning Miss Malawi to Miss World until they were bailed out by government through the Ministry of Tourism.
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