Mohalenyane Phakela
MISS Africa Great Britain contestant, Mookho Rebecca Mphonyo has appealed to Basotho to vote for her to win the pageant on 14 October 2017 at the Royal Regency Hall in London, England.
She recently told Xpress People from her London base that it was important to garner the most votes to win the Miss Popularity award as well as secure a spot among the top 10 finalists.
People can either vote via Instagram by following the link http://www.instagram.com/missafricagb or on the pageant’s website link: http://www.missafricagb.com/vote.
The Miss Africa GB pageant (Formerly Black Africa UK pageant) was founded in 2011 with the aim of giving young African girls born or living in the United Kingdom a platform to showcase their beauty, culture, talent and creativity. The winner becomes a goodwill ambassador for Miss Africa GB, charged with designing and implementing a charity programme based on her pageant platform.
The 30-year-old Mphonyo from Upper Thamae in Maseru is among the 26 contestants from 11 African countries who are in the race for the pageant’s title.
This will be the first time that Mphonyo competes in a beauty pageant.
“Winning this pageant will make me part of an organisation that works to raise funds to help the less privileged in Africa,” Mphonyo said.
“The winner is also given a chance to raise funds for an organisation of her choice, so I will definitely choose one in Lesotho as I have seen how some of my countrymen suffer. I am mainly eyeing the Charity Award which is the second highest title. It will enable me to implement charitable drives in Lesotho.
“The competition seems very tough as I am up against ladies who have been in this industry for years but since we are undergoing training, I guess we stand equal chances of winning and I will do my best.”
Mphonyo has been in the United Kingdom since September 2016 as a student at Swansea University in Wales pursuing a Master’s Degree in Development and Human Rights on a Chevening Scholarship. She worked at the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) in Lesotho as a project coordinator.
She also said that the other reason she entered the pageant was to popularise Lesotho as she had realised most people there did not know about her country.
“I discovered that many people do not know about Lesotho and whenever I introduce myself, I have to take out a map to show people where Lesotho is positioned in Africa.
“I was also surprised that even fellow Africans do not know of our existence and that worried me. The pageant is a platform that can promote Lesotho.
“Besides that, I also found Miss Africa GB organisation as a very good platform that promotes and inspires African girls, helps expose their diverse cultures and talents. It is platform for African girls to do a part in helping those in need in Africa by engaging in fundraising and projects,” she said.