- Contestant to be reduced to 14 end of this month
- Organisers dismiss allegations of favouritism
GOSEGO MOTSUMI
As a beauty pageant that prides itself in women empowerment and building healthy marriages and families, the ongoing Mrs Botswana last week engaged its top 30 finalists on issues of intimacy.
The engagement session was part of festivities of the pageant and featured renowned Dr Thusang Gure, a general health practitioner well known for being outspoken on sexual intimacy.
“We wanted to get some inspiration on issues of family building,” founder and national director of Mrs Botswana, Kgalalelo Lesetedi, told Time Out. “A lot of emphasis has been put on the general running of the family and we found it suitable to address intimacy.
“It was unfortunate that our numbers did not allow us to bring husbands as 30 finalists plus 30 husbands would have been 60. We plan to arrange another session where husbands will be invited, possibly after the preliminary judging.”
Dr Gure shared a lot of pointers surrounding the importance of keeping and maintaining fun in the bedroom. Lesetedi said divorce is one of the issues they fight, hence the importance of the session especially during this time of COVID-19 where GBV cases are also high. “Couples need to create fun in their homes because it is at times like these that the family unit becomes the most important thing in life,” she noted. “We currently need nothing more than family.”
Lesetedi revealed that they will be reducing the number of the finalists from 30 to 14 by the end of this month. The top 14 finalists will vie for the coveted crown at the grand finale scheduled for 4 September 2021. The pageant will crown a queen who is not only a mother to her household but also a mother to the nation. The queen should be active in issues of making a difference in the community and being an ambassador of happy, healthy marriages and families.
Even so, the pageant has been marred by allegations of favouritism and sidelining some contestants. Responding to this, Lesetedi said they believe the best way to deal with complaints is to communicate after the crowning of Mrs Botswana.
“We are transparent with our finalists as to how the judging criteria are going to be so that no one feels cheated at the end of the season,” she asserted. “We also motivate them on issues of accepting results even if it’s not positive and celebrating each other’s victories. There can only be one winner at the end of the day, and fairness is what we pride our brand in.”