“Do not promise prizes you cannot offer to the winners, and remember The Miss Gambia Pageant must not be used as a vehicle to sexually exploit women and girls,” Honourable Hamat N.K. Bah warned.
He noted that recently stories have surfaced regarding sexual exploitation of beauty queens in some parts of Africa. “This cannot be allowed to happen here. Participants must be fully protected from sexual assault and fully insured and with confirmed parental permission. These are critical ground rules that must be observed,” he emphasised.
The minister used the occasion to pay tribute to all the previous Miss Gambia Beauty Queens which include Elizabeth Renner, Abie Barry, Mirabelle Carayol, Ndey Jagne, while he disclosed that everyone is looking forward to seeing the contestants in action as soon as possible for the event.
Commending the NCAC for the tremendous work done to see the realisation of that great partnership, he reminded the partners that the Miss Gambia Beauty Pageant has a rich history and tradition dating back to 1964 when Elizabeth Renner was adjudged first Miss Gambia to coincide with the Independence celebrations of The Gambia. And from 1964 to 2001, the pageant has been held regularly by various entities such as the Meta Youth Club, Banzig Club and also sometimes it was organised by individual investors.
In this regard, “I wish to remember the hardworking people in the like of Messrs George Gomez, Sering Secka, of blessed memory, who for many years had the singular courage and determination to keep the Miss Gambia Pageant alive,” Minister Bah paid tribute to the old organisers.
But it is sad that for the past 20 years, this important event has not been held due to many different challenges, as “the Miss Gambia brand fell into disrepute due to scandals associated with it. These include but not limited to failure of organisers to honour prize commitments to winners. Secondly, the Miss Gambia Beauty Pageant becomes embroiled in funding difficulties and to organise the pageant is a capital intensive venture. And thirdly, it seemed the Miss Gambia Beauty Pageant was like a free for all events which every Tom, Dick and Harry thought they had ownership of, and were shamelessly exploiting or even misusing it,” the Minster highlighted.
While also commending the partners, Biddy’s and Gambia Fashion Association for believing in the Miss Gambia project, he challenged the NCAC to take up the ownership of the brand Miss Gambia, and protect its image and status as a national event.
Among other significance of the event, he said, Miss Gambia Beauty Pageant has lot of potential as a tourism product, as a cultural event and also as a mirror for Gambian womanhood and beauty. “This is why we need to ensure that only bona fide organisers can be given the franchise to organise it. So the partners are only given a franchise, the brand remains property of The Gambia government.”
