Nshuti Muheto Divine crowned Miss Rwanda 2022

Nshuti Muheto Divine was crowned Miss Rwanda 2022 at the end of the Miss Rwanda pageant, held at the Intare Conference Arena in Kigali, Rwanda on March 19, 2022. The 19-year-old high school graduate bested 18 beauty queens, who were vying for the crown after one month in a boot camp. The representative of Western Province succeed Miss Rwanda 2021 Grace Ingabire for this crown and earned the opportunity to represent her country at the next edition of Miss World pageant.

Several rounds of questions that aimed at testing the beauty, brain and cultural values of the girls were done to find the top eleven, top five and then top three girls to be the Miss Rwanda and two runners-up. The girls answered their questions in English while participants are allowed to answer in either of three languages including French, English and the mother tongue Kinyarwanda.

“I feel happy, blessed and grateful,” she said shortly after winning the crown. Muheto admits all the top three deserved to be crowned Miss Rwanda 2022 but insists the hard-earned crown was a result of tough challenges that she went through throughout the campaign which she described as ‘tough’ but full of lessons. “My journey was tough. It was so competitive but also educational, I really learnt a lot from this journey. Credits to everyone who supported me and, most importantly, the grace of God,” she said.

Muheto’s journey to winning the coveted crown started from Rubavu auditions where she, among other eight contestants, earned a PASS to represent the Western Province. The provincial auditions left 70 contestants selected from the four provinces and the City of Kigali which as a result recorded the highest representation with 29 contestants.

On top of the crown, Miss Rwanda 2022 will be receiving a monthly facilitation of Rwf800, 000 during her reign from Miss Rwanda organization among many other additional prizes from organisers’ partners. She will also get financial support from Africa Improved Foods (AIF) Rwanda for her ‘beauty with a purpose’ project. The car, one of Miss Rwanda’s major prizes, was however, not available at the venue as opposed to previous editions. The car sponsor, Hyundai Rwanda, clarified that the car will be handed over to the beauty a few days after the grand finale.

The 2022 Miss Rwanda’s court includes Keza Maolithia and Kayumba Darina as first and second runners-up, respectively.

If there is a contestant who made headlines throughout the Miss Rwanda 2022 campaign, it was Jeannette Uwimana, the first person with disability to contest for Miss Rwanda since its inception in 1993. A few believed that her journey would be as successful from the day she decided to run for the Miss Rwanda crown despite being deaf.

And she proved doubters wrong when her project, which is about pork farming, became the ‘Most Innovative Project’. The project will be fully funded by Bank of Kigali besides becoming the bank’s brand ambassador for the next twelve months during which she will be receiving monthly allowances of Rwf500, 000.

Among other prize winners include Ruth Bahali who was awarded Rwf1, 800, 000 by HDI Rwanda for showing much interest in reproductive health issues.

Meanwhile, Kellia Ruzindana became Miss Heritage and will walk away with a cash prize of Rwf5, 000, 000 from Bralirwa through their brand Primus as well as support towards her cultural awareness campaigns.

Queen Ndahiro Mugabekazi emerged Miss Photogenic while Amanda Saro who excited revelers with exceptional skills in playing piano became the Talent winner. Marlene Uwimana was announced the Sports winner even before the grand finale while Divine Muheto added the Miss Popularity prize to her crown.

However, the Miss Congeniality title was not given out as earlier announced after Merez Petroleum, which was expected to award her, withdrew its partnership with the pageant’s organisers.

The Miss Rwanda 2022 top 10 finalists will be given scholarships of their choice by the University of Kigali based on their level of education and progress.

Each contestant will get a share of 20 percent of the money obtained from each contestant’s votes. The money will assist in their project implementation.

Meanwhile, Forzza Gaming will finance a charitable activity that all Miss Rwanda 2022 finalists will agree to work on together.