On December 3 2022, Malawi welcomed a new beauty queen. Jescar Mponda, a 24-year-old student at Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences.

The country had stayed for four years without hosting a beauty queen and her coming in was met with a lot of scrutiny.

“Heavy is the head that wears the crown. I signed up for this and I knew I was going to meet such scrutiny some day,” she said in an interview with Chill.

Mponda said she is aware that she will be criticised, but as a Christian she is handling everything with grace.

Madam Monica Chakwera (L) crowns Mponda

“As a Christian, I find peace in God. That aside, I am human, I fall, I bleed, I hurt and that is just normal. I just hope I serve my term to meet people’s expectations so that those who have reservations learn to accept me gradually,” she said.

The beauty queen says she wants to use her term to be the voice of the voiceless and inspire hope.

“I have always dreamt of becoming someone great and to make sure the world remembers me when I am no longer here. I want to leave a mark in people’s lives,” she said.

Among her projects is the focus on children in line with this year’s Miss Malawi theme Early Childhood Development.

She said: “Together with the first and second princesses, we will work hand in hand with the rest of the girls that contested to achieve a common goal.”

Reflecting on the modelling industry, Mponda said modelling is a career which can actually help reduce unemployment.

She said: “Models are also a canvas to display various products. A good advertisement will result in a good sale and profit for the seller. Models can also work as culture and tourism ambassadors.”

Mponda said the country’s modelling industry is still young, but is making strides due to various factors.

“This can be a different story if authorities give models a platform to make good policies which can make modelling a sustainable career,” she said.

In a separate interview, beauty contest enthusiast Florence Banda who spotted Mponda and cast her for Miss East Africa, Florence Banda, said the beauty queen deserves the crown.

She said: “When she came in to audition to represent Malawi during the Miss East Africa contest, she stood out. It was her first time on stage, but she had the zeal and confidence. She was precise in her statements and also a beauty with brains.

“She is so determined and courageous. The first time I met her I told her she was destined for bigger things. When she represented Malawi for the Miss East Africa, she reached the top five and I was proud of her.”

Banda said when Mponda told her that she was vying for Miss Malawi she knew she would make it.

“When she informed me about her Miss Malawi venture I knew it was her time. Mponda is focused, intelligent, smart, beautiful, confident and brainy. She is a young lady to watch,” said Banda, a former beauty queen herself as Miss Matofotofo.

Mponda was seconded by Hlezipe Jade Chakhwaza and Roberta Kanjewa as second princess.

Mponda comes from Mangochi.

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