Marufu crowned Miss Zimbabwe Tourism

Marufu crowned Miss Zimbabwe Tourism

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By Torby Chimhashu

CAROLINE Marufu has been crowned Miss Tourism Zimbabwe 2006.

Michelle Makanza from Harare and Vongai Mushove of Mutare were the first and second princesses respectively.

Marufu, a 23-year-old school teacher from Fingers Modelling Agency of Bulawayo made sure that the crown stays in the City of Kings where her predecessor Lorraine Tsoanele Maphala comes from.

Fingers Modelling Agency is owned by television actress Sarah Mpofu, who, incidentally is the licence holder for Bulawayo region.

An ecstatic Marufu promised to hold her own in a bid to market Zimbabwe and make in-rods into the world of modelling.

She said:" It was a tough competition. I still can't believe it is me who has won the title. I thought everyone was magnificent tonight."

Marufu believes there are many hurdles ahead but vowed to take them on in her pursuit of honours for herself and the country.

"It is not easy given the current situation in Zimbabwe. I think with the right support, I will help market Zimbabwe abroad. It is not easy though," she
told New Zimbabwe.com.

However, the show kicked off late amid a growing concern from the appreciative crowd that forked out the punitive $20 000 tickets for the finals.

Initially pencilled to kick-off at 7:30pm, the finale roared into life after the main news bulletin at 21:00 hours.

Organisers, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, said this was caused by the technical hitches which meant that the show had to be beamed live after the news.

While the Miss Tourism Zimbabwe winner Marufu, may walk tall, the organisation of the show itself left a lot to be desired.

There was a lot of misinformation as to who was participating in the grand finale.

Newspapers were fed with information that was fallacious - depending on which paper to believe.

On Tuesday, the ZTA told journalists that participants from the diaspora including Faith Matambanashe from the UK, had pulled out of the show.

Embarrassingly, Matambanashe was among the first models to join the camp at the Rainbow Towers hotel, formerly Sheraton Hotel.

It emerged that the ZTA Public Relations Officer, Betty Mutinhiri, had misled journalists.

Instead of owning up, she let the media speculate on the final contestants.

Newspaper adverts carried 32 names of finalists but the ZTA said 42 models were participating in the finals.

The future, perhaps the credibility of this pageant remains in tatters as poor marketing and politics appear to be the motive behind the show.

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