Senegal: The “Miss Senegal” beauty contest makes a comeback after a two-year break
The Miss Senegal New Vision organising committee has announced that the event, dedicated to celebrating the beauty of Senegalese women, will be relaunched in Kaffrine. The announcement was made by the committee’s president, Aminata Badiane.
No date has yet been clearly set, she explained, as the event is dependent on the Ministry of Culture.
We don’t have the exact date because we’re waiting for the Minister of Culture and Historical Heritage, Aliou Sow, to give us the exact date. He’ll be announcing the date soon,” she said.
The chairwoman of the organising committee, who recently returned from the Francophone Games held in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, said that «Miss Senegal New Vision» would be co-organised with the Ministry of Culture.
The Minister of Culture has institutionalised the event. «Miss Senegal New Vision» will be co-organised by the committee and the Ministry of Culture. We’re going to organise it together. We’ve chosen Kaffrine as the venue for the official launch. It all depends on the Minister’s schedule. He’ll be announcing the date soon. We’re working together now», she says.
This year’s theme is “Culture and historical heritage, a vector of peace and a lever for socio-economic development”. Said Ms Badiane.
The Miss Senegal organising committee is back in the spotlight two years after the scandal that shrouded it following a case of rape followed by pregnancy.
The facts date back to 2020. The winner of that year’s competition claimed to have been a victim of sexual violence.
She added that she had become pregnant as a result of the assault during a trip organised by the committee, questioning the role played in the affair by the president of the organising committee, Aminata Badiane.
Badiane’s statements on the case were strongly criticised by feminist associations, who accused her of “glorifying rape”.
«If someone rapes you, it’s because you had it coming», the organiser retorted to her accuser.
The case was dismissed by the courts.
Despite this tumultuous period, the Miss Senegal organising committee is determined to resume its activities and offer an exceptional event, with new innovations to attract young people from the diaspora and tourists to Senegal.
Karim Fall
