Selma Kamanya reveals the naked truth about the Miss Namibia Institution

In a letter written to NAMPA, Kamanya said she had not received much support from Miss Namibia institution which somehow became more of a financial burden to her.

Kamanya says the crown accorded her the opportunity to use her sphere of influence to preach the gospel of mental health to many young Namibians on many platforms.

Many of the information shared, a lot of people here not aware of it all, Selma briefly states “this is my experience, raw and unfiltered.” Kamanya then adds “this disclosure is not meant as defamatory, but it aims to share my true journey during the term of my reign. I hope that this naked truth will offer some pearls of wisdom and urgent change so that future Miss Namibia can genuinely harness the strength, of what this role can offer them and the country.”

Kamanya says she will forever be grateful for the country’s support, well wishes and messages of encouragement. As the past year had been challenging and without the help and support of her fellow Namibians, she might have considered voluntarily giving back the crown.

“I have found that I had little to no support from the institution of Miss Namibia beauty pageant. This was particularly challenging because the institution holds authority over how a Miss Namibia may appear in what manner aligned with a number of the terms and conditions that Miss Namibia is subjected to.” She explained.

Miss Namibia continues by saying the following, “The challenges experienced as a result propelled me into a state of anxiety, mental instability, and sometimes, depression. Bluntly speaking, there was no real monetary reward or otherwise for becoming an ambassador for Namibia through this platform, despite the many sacrifices one has to make for the benefit of the title. These difficult circumstances are sadly also not communicated or shared with contestants before or during the process.”

“It only comes as a rude awakening after the crowning. As far as I know, NDTC as the main sponsor gave N$ 300,000 towards the pageant. I received N$ 18,000 cash prize, broken down as N$ 10,000 from NDTC, N$ 4,000 from Standard Bank as well as N$ 4,000 from Etosha. Of this sum, I only received the first N$ 8,000 after numerous requests, including pleadings by my mother. I have since visited sponsors that have informed that they have given cash prizes to the pageant, of which I know nothing about.”

Selma Kamanya concludes the interview she had by saying, “To the incoming Miss Namibia, I urge you to strengthen yourself from the inside, because while the title offers glitz and glam it will provide significant challenges, and it will require your inner strength to mitigate through them.”

Kamanya who advised the institution to have more clear and honest communication with contestants on what the title “Miss Namibia” entitles in the near future added that, she had to make sacrifices for the benefit of the title. “I would encourage Mrs. Maritz to avail the public funds invested in this pageant and its proportion to what a Miss Namibia would be entitled to a winner. This information should be public as it was many years ago. This goes along with transparency because the silos in which it is currently handled diminishes the trust of the pageant on many fronts.”