Belgian beauty queen Kenza Johanna Ameloot, who has Rwandan roots, is actively involved in charity work, particularly in providing medical treatment for underprivileged children suffering from cataracts. In addition, she has expressed her readiness to support efforts to bring back the Miss Rwanda pageant.
Ameloot made these remarks on Wednesday, September 11, 2024, when discussing the possibility of reviving the Miss Rwanda competition and her willingness to contribute to its return.
“I believe the Miss Rwanda pageant has greatly benefited young women in Rwanda, and I think it would be very important if it were brought back,” she said.
Ameloot also highlighted that Miss Rwanda served as a platform to show young girls and Africans in general that they could achieve their dreams without necessarily going abroad.
“I see the pageant as a message to young girls and Africans that they can achieve all they desire within their own countries,” she added.
This is the basis of her commitment to providing her expertise if needed, should the pageant be revived.
“I am willing to offer my knowledge and skills if they ever need us to work together,” she stated.
She also expressed her desire to visit Rwanda to meet with other beauty queens and the organizers of Miss Rwanda to discuss how to bring the pageant back.
“I am hopeful that one day I will return to Rwanda and talk with other former Miss Rwanda winners from 2020, 2021, and 2022 about how to restore the Miss Rwanda pageant, led by qualified individuals and with positive goals as it once was,” she said.
On May 10, 2022, the former Ministry of Youth and Culture, now known as the Ministry of Youth and Art Development, decided to suspend the Miss Rwanda pageant.
This decision was made after the head of Rwanda Inspiration Back Up, which organized Miss Rwanda, Mr. Dieudonné Ishimwe (Prince Kid), became the subject of an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment involving contestants in past Miss Rwanda competitions.
The Miss Rwanda pageant was resumed in 2009, after it had been halted since before the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. In 2009, the Ministry of Culture and Sports organized it.
Two years later, in 2012, the pageant was again held, organized by the government in collaboration with private entities.
Since 2014, Rwanda Inspiration Back Up, led by Dieudonné Ishimwe, known as Prince Kid, had been organizing the competition after winning the contract to do so, and continued to do so until its suspension in 2022.
BY KAYITESI Ange
