'Don't worry, Emma will get her house,' says Leapfrog

MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer | Friday November 12, 2010 00:00

Wareus fears that the contract her daughter got from the organisers to sign recently only empowers her to enjoy ownership rights at the end of the year, but the insertion of additional clauses she can be denied.

Tshepo is convinced nothing in the new contract they were handed by the organisers is proper. She contemplates going to court to force the organisers to deliver the title deed and not a problematic contract.

Tshepo's fears that her daughter might be sabotaged are made worse because her daughter, who was promised to be the face of BTC and be Mobile products has been bypassed by the organisers, who have chosen her runner up who has recently been appearing in BTC advertising campaigns.

Tshepo also says that her daughter was denied the privilege to use the official Miss Botswana BHC flat at The Village even when the organisers knew that the house she won was taking long to finish.

Miss Botswana organiser, Leapfrog MD, Thapelo Pabalinga, flatly refutes any allegation of sabotage and blames the whole misunderstanding on third parties who are 'poking their noses into the pageant'.

Pabalinga replies: 'The contract doesn't say Emma has the house for 1 year. It states that total ownership of the flat will change to Emma Wareus after the successfull completion of her reign in May 2010.

'This is an industry practice that is used globally, with the rationale behind it being to ensure the queen adheres to the principles and ethics of the pageant. 'If the prizes changed ownership immediately after the pageant then what recourse do you have if the queen decides to quit after only one week.

The contract was presented to Emma and her mother when she was being handed over the keys to her flat and it is my understanding that she was still studying it so that she can revert to us with it signed.

'This contract is an extension of one that was signed when Emma was entering the contest and as a winner she needed to sign one that is detailed and one that talks more about the terms and use of the prize.

Asked about the possibility of court action to clarify what appears to them to be a year's contract, Pabalinga emphasised: 'There is no one-year contract. The contract is for the change of ownership after one year, but the prizes are for keeps.

'Similarly, Miss Botswana 2009, Sumaiyah used her car for a year undisturbed, but ownership of the car was changed in her name after the successful completion of her reign. She was handed over the blue book with her name on it and she has since sold the car to further her studies.

Thapelo further said that the title deed is not in Leapfrog's name 'simply because the title deeds are still not issued by BHC. The title deed will be changed to Emma Wareus on successful completion of her reign and I would like to stress that successful completion of her reign is nothing difficult and it shouldn't be understood to be such.

'It is a control measure that ensures queens remain committed to their cause as well as stay disciplined and not drag the name of the pageant into disrepute in any way.

Mmegi: How did the Miss Botswana organisers acquire this house from BHC. What was the understanding? Can it be returned to the BHC at the end of her reign?

Thapelo: The house has been bought from BHC, and it was bought for the sole purpose of being given to Miss Botswana. For instance, I can't turn around and say to BHC that the house will now be given to Leapfrog or anyone else though I am the one paying.

'This was to safeguard against getting the house under false pretence and using it for something else. So our agreement with BHC is that the house will be transferred only in the name of Emma Wareus whenever we instruct so, any other name they will not accept, hence I state that the title deed is not going to be in the name of Leapfrog.

'We uphold the highest standards of ethics and governance hence we structured the contract with BHC in that manner, so there is clarity.

Mmegi: On a related matter, Mmegi has been made aware that contrary to Leapfrog's contractual promise that the Miss Botswana queen will also model certain BTC products, this has not been the case, and instead, it has been the first princess, Moshoeshoe, who is  now the face of BTC. Have you had a change of heart, and if so, what prompted it?

Thapelo: BTC has lots of campaigns that they embark on and the agreement was that the queen and her two princesses will be used for different campaigns. As I speak, Moshoeshoe has already been used on the one campaign and Bonny, the second princess, as well she's been used on another one that is yet to roll out. Emma will have her turn as she comes back. The reason why Emma hasn't been used is because she has been away for seven weeks and in her absence her princesses were used. The other obvious reason was that we needed Emma to focus on Miss World, so her turn will come and there is no change of heart.

'Relations between the organisers and Miss Botswana are fine. It's just third parties that are trying to destroy them. Let's not forget that before we took over no one was interested in this event and all of a sudden everyone wants a piece of it and they are creating unfounded stories.

Mmegi: There is also a concern that when the Miss Botswana queen's house was not yet ready, the organisers never bothered to accommodate the queen at the official Miss Botswana House at The Village, and instead the first princess was accommodated there. Is this true?

Thapelo: We did not anticipate BHC taking so long in getting the occupational certificate for the new flats in Block 7, hence that's why we did not come up with a stop gap measure. But I guess there would have been nothing wrong with them sharing whilst awaiting the other flats to be ready. All this wasn't done out of anything bad, it was just an oversight in retrospect.