Young girls with painted faces wore all sorts of colours of lipstick. Most of them clearly lacked confidence and the way they glided about laid bare their inexperience on the ramp.

When it came to question time, there was a problem. One girl who said she would promote tourism in the event that she won the Miss Rwanda 2015 title, was unable to answer questions when she was asked to name a few tourist attraction sites she knew of in southern Rwanda.

That was the scene at one of the countrywide Miss Rwanda 2015 auditions that ended last weekend.

The girl from Huye district is not alone. In fact, most of the Miss Rwanda hopefuls did not seem to be knowledgeable about the simplest of things, while others could neither communicate fluently in English nor French — the two official languages in Rwanda that are spoken internationally.

This perhaps explains why the eventual winners have not had eventful reigns worth writing home about. Three beauty queens have been crowned since 2009 — Grace Bahati (2009), Aurore Kayibanda Mutesi (2012) and Colombe Akiwacu (2014) — but of the three only Mutesi seems to have enjoyed a somewhat eventful reign.

She took part in the Miss University Africa contest in Nigeria, Miss Supranational in Belarus, and Miss Fespam in Cote d’Ivoire. She was crowned Miss Fespam. Mutesi’s predecessor is not known to have represented Rwanda at any event outside the country.

“We should stop running Miss Rwanda beauty pageants. It is a stressful and difficult job. After handing you the crown everyone abandons you in the wilderness... you are left on your own without any support.

“It’s been very difficult. I don’t get help from the Ministry of Sports and Culture and my manager doesn’t know what he is supposed to do. The ministry handed me over to Rwanda Inspirational Backup (the events company that was contracted by the Ministry of Sports and Culture to organise the national beauty pageant) but up to now there is nothing they have done to ensure that my reign runs as smooth as possible,” said Akiwacu.

One would think that such woes that have dogged the national beauty pageant since its inception six years ago would result in a slump in the number of girls who turn up for auditions as years wear on.

But that’s not the case. In fact, many young girls still have the aspiration to become Miss Rwanda. Promises by the organisers of the contest that this time around “we will correct the mistakes we made” seem to have sparked more interest in the pageant as this year’s auditions attracted a slew of hopefuls.

“The number of girls who turned up for the auditions this year increased by more than 100 from last year’s casting,” said Jean-Claude Karengera, one of the organisers of the pageant.

Karengera attributed this increase to the the Ministry of Sports and Culture’s tireless sensitisation of the public about what the Miss Rwanda pageant is all about.

Joseph Habineza, Sports and Culture Minister has been promoting the pageant on radio talk shows.

“Miss Rwanda is now a big brand,” said Karengera, adding that being Miss Rwanda this time will also be a job as the eventual winner will be earning a salary of $1,000 per month for one year – in addition to a car and endorsements.

The forthcoming edition of the contest, which is slated for February 21, aims to empower young Rwandan girls while at the same time celebrating the cultural, ethical and traditional beauty of Rwanda, organisers said.