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Tendai Hunda

Brenda Phiri Entertainment Reporter
Newly crowned Miss Zimbabwe Tendai Hunda on Monday evening left the country for the Miss World boot camp that is currently taking place in London. The 23-year-old queen joins contestants from across the globe who have been undertaking preparatory activities for almost a week as the build-up to the Miss World pageant slated for December 14 intensifies.

Speaking on the development, Miss Zimbabwe Trust communications and programmes manager Tendai Chirau said Hunda stood a fair chance since “being late for a lecture doesn’t mean one has failed the exam”.

“I can confirm that Tendai Hunda left at 6pm (Monday night) and everything is now in place. The Miss World (organisers) are aware of all the delays and developments and have actually helped us to secure her visa that was issued on the day she left. For the record, we are not the only ones who have delayed in sending a representative as countries like Miss Honduras have also delayed,” he said.

Chirau said the trust had since moved on from “rebellious” Catherine Makaya, the recently dethroned queen’s episode and had confidence in the new queen’s ability to raise the country’s flag high.

He cited Hunda’s striking features saying her greatest strength was her intellectual prowess.

“What happened (with predecessor Makaya) was unfortunate. We had no option but to replace her since she had denounced and dumped the Miss Zimbabwe Trust. We were not aware of her concerns and grievances before we read about them in the media. We are, however, optimistic about Hunda as she is an intelligent student with the University of Zimbabwe. She has the right features in terms of height and weight,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Miss World website has since replaced Makaya’s profile with Hunda’s.

It is business as usual in the camp that also took the time to honour Miss Honduras, Maria Jose (19), who was murdered in her hometown together with her sister Sofia Alvarado (23) a few days before participating at the prestigious event.