Cameroonian government recovers “Miss Cameroon” label

The organizing committee of the competition, a private initiative chaired by Ingrid Solange Agrawal, has just been disapproved…

The “Miss Cameroon” contest will no longer be organized by a private operator as was the case in the past. The Cameroonian government is taken matters in its own hands. This is the content of the press release, made public on December 20th during the 5pm edition of the national radio news over CRTV.

The release is signed by Prof. Narcisse Mouelle Kombi, the minister of Arts and Culture which institution he heads “decided to recover the concept” Miss Cameroon “and subsequently, the Organization of the beauty contest related thereto”. Prof. Mouelle Kombi states in the same communiqué that “this decision, subject to the strict instruction of high hierarchy, is consequential to the recurring incidents having impacted negatively in recent years, the said competition”.

Indeed, the last edition of the election “Miss Cameroon”, like the previous ones, has been punctuated by numerous scandals, including a complaint filed by one of the candidates who accused the organizing committee of Miss Cameroon (Comica) chaired by Ingrid Solange to have prevented her from getting on stage when she was called among the finalists of the competition. An act which had resulted in the victory of Aimée Caroline Nseke, a young Cameroonian from the diaspora. Who had received a big blow on the face after her coronation with the dissemination, on social media, of a video in which she performed awkwardly the Cameroon national anthem.  

A succession of scandals that has eroded for a long time, the reputation of this beauty contest. The Government therefore intends to save the image of Cameroon and to deny any other private initiative under the label “Miss Cameroon”. This decision came after the Comica had given a press conference on December 18 to launch the 14th edition of the “Miss Cameroon” competition and present the vehicle that will be offered to its future winner. Ingrid Solange Amougou, the president of the Comica, did not formally react to the release of the minister of Arts and Culture.

But things could not be left that way, given the fact that the “Miss Cameroon” concept is protected under the name of the Orphee Association.  However, the State assumes the right of pre-emption and recalls that it has provided financial and material support to this hitherto private initiative.