Koketso Is The African Queen

By Monkagedi Gaotlhobogwe
Staff Writer | Monday February 8, 2010 00:00

In the past, she had tried her luck in several Miss Botswana as well as the Miss Earth pageants, while last year she took it upon herself to organise one called Miss Independence without much success.

But this time around Koketso's time seemed to have arrived at last. From the very start of the proceedings on Friday night, the fans watching the event were whistling and shouting Koketso's name, as she stole the limelight in this unique pageant designed for girls wearing size 32-36.

Perhaps, Koketso's best moment was when it was her turn to show off her   African talent.  Wearing a Botswana flag coloured dance mini skirt, dancing beads on her feet, and carrying a flywhisk in her right hand, Koketso danced to the tune of cultural music icon, Maxy Sedumedi with so much grace she had the audience spell-bound.

Her only two other challengers in this area, Yvonne Thebeyakgosi and Segolame Lashane, seemed to freeze on stage.

It was a truly unique pageant with the girls first parading in   African-wrap-arounds for evening wear, before flaunting their various African prints, all covering their beautiful legs that had most men in the audience ogling. It was announced that the designs were supplied by Judith of Kamhoti Investments.

It was indeed a colouurful African night with one of the biggest cultural groups on the local front, Morubele, entertaining the audience with their signature hits such as Ditsompi, Comete, and several fans' favourites.

Here and there music from local cultural power houses like Shumba Ratshega and Maxy could be heard playing in the background, while South African legend Yvonne Chaka Chaka's Mama land also became one of the signature songs as the girls strutted their stuff, but it was Nigerian Two Face's hit song, My African Queen, which was the theme song of the evening, thus confirming that it was a night dedicated to celebrating African beauty.

Guest speaker at the pageant was former Botswana Musicians Union (BOMU) leader and Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) activist Taolo Moshaga.

A representative from the Department of Arts and Culture Modikwa congratulated pageant organisers saying they exhibited so much energy in the face of a draining and frustrating job. Modikwa saw the event as part of a cultural revival and advised unemployed youth that cultural heritage can be a source of employment and help in economic diversification.