Shanitah Umunyana who was representing Rwanda in the Miss East Africa beauty pageant was crowned Miss East Africa 2021 in a colorful event that took place on Friday, December 24.
The 22-year old was vying for the crown alongside 16 other beauty queens from Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi, Uganda, Zambia, Mauritius, Comoros, Seychelles, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Eritrea among other countries.
Prior to the grand finale, contestants had spent at least a month in a bootcamp with intense training on public speaking and cultural demonstrations among other things.
After the first round, the best six contestants were chosen to proceed to the next stage.
Mauricius Island’s Oceanne Rose emerged the second runner up and Tanzania’s Queen Mugesi was cronwed the first runner up and Shanitah Umunyana emerged winner.
Talking to Wasafi TV, Miss Shanitah announced that she is going to start working on her project right away.
“This is a victory for my country, Rwanda, and all my fellow colleagues who were with me in this pangeant, I have a project of sensitising women to create innovative products and that’s what I am going to embark on now,” she said.
Umunyana walked away with a brand new Nissan x trail car 2021 version worth $ 44,000 and will get a monthly pay of $ 1,500 which she will get within a period of 12 months.
The first and second runners-up also pocketed $ 5,000 and 3, 000 respectively.
Shanitah was the first runner up of Miss Rwanda 2018.
Miss East Africa is an annual regional event that is back after a 9-year break since being held first in Tanzania in 1996 to 2012.
