Wikipedia

Miss Grand Kenya

Miss Grand Kenya is a national beauty pageant title awarded to Kenyan representatives competing at the Miss Grand International pageant.[1][2][3][4] The title was first mentioned in 2013 when a national finalist of Miss World Kenya 2012, Pauline Akwacha, was assigned by the pageant organizer directed by Andy Abulime, Beauties of Africa Inc., to compete at the inaugural edition of Miss Grand International in Thailand.[1]

Miss Grand Kenya
Formation31 August 2024; 2 months ago (2024-08-31)
TypeBeauty pageant
HeadquartersNairobi
Location
Official language
English
National director
Tanveen Lonez (2024 – Present)
Parent organization
  • Beauties of Africa Inc. (2013)
  • Miss Kenya (2015)
  • The Drop Models Kenya (2025)
AffiliationsMiss Grand International

The only placement of Kenyan at Miss Grand International was in the top 20, reached by Irene Ng'endo in 2020.[5]

History

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Since the establishment of Miss Grand International, Kenya has occasionally sent representatives to compete. In 2013, based majorly on past modeling experiences such as television commercials, advertisements, and understanding of the beauty pageant, a Nairobi resident model and Miss World Kenya 2012 finalist Pauline Akwacha was chosen by Andy Abulime's Beauties of Africa Inc to represent the country at the inaugural edition of Miss Grand International in Thailand; making her the first Kenyan to compete at the mentioned international contest.[1] However, she received non-placements.[6]

After an absence in 2014, the license was purchased by Tony Chirah, the director of Miss Kenya, and the Miss Grand Kenya titleholder for this particular year was determined through such a pageant as the supplementary title,[7] while the main winner was sent to Miss Earth 2015.[2][7] However, the contract was discontinued the following year, and no Kenyan representative in Miss Grand International from 2016 to 2019.

In 2020, Miss Africa 2019 winner Irene Mukii purchased the license and subsequently dominated herself to compete at that year's edition in Thailand,[3][8] and reached Top 20 in the pageant finals.[5]

Edition

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The following is the competition detail of the Miss Grand Kenya pageant, held as a stand-alone pageant only once in 2024.[9][10]

Edition Date Final venue Entrants Result Ref.
Winner 1st runner-up 2nd runner-up
1st[a] August 31, 2024 Delight Africa Hall, Nairobi 9 Magdalene Takangiro Purity Khabukwi Joy Favour Awiti [12]

Representative at Miss Grand International

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The following is a list of Kenyan representatives at the Miss Grand International contest.

Year Representative Original national title Competition performance Licensee
Placement Other awards
2013 Pauline Akwacha[1] Top 10 finalist Miss World Kenya 2012[1] Unplaced[6] — Andy Abulime[1]
2014 No representative
2015 Elaine Mwangi[2][13] Miss Grand Kenya 2015[2] Unplaced[14] — Tony Chirah[7]
No representatives between 2016-2019
2020 Irene Ng'endo[3][15] Miss Africa 2019[16] Top 20[5] — Irene Ng'endo[8]
No representatives between 2021-2024
2025 Magdalene Takangiro Miss Grand Kenya 2024 TBA TBA Tanveen Lonez

Finalists

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The following list is the national finalists of the Miss Grand Kenya pageant and the competition results.

Year
 2024
Delegate[10][17] Result[18]
Central Joy Awiti Favour 2nd runner-up
Coast Purity Khabukwi 1st runner-up
Eastern Donnata Risper
Nairobi Samantha Kemama
North Eastern Wilhelmine Atieno
Nyanza Stephanie Auma Miss Top Model
Rift Valley–North Magdelene Takangiro Winner
Rift Valley–South Margaret Furaha Miss Peoples Choice
Western Kamonya Brandy Miss Congeniality
Total 9

Notes

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  1. ^ Even though the winner of Miss Grand Kenya 2024 was expected to participate in the 12th edition of Miss Grand International, the Kenyan organization later announced their representative would only compete internationally in 2025[11]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Maureen Odiwuor (2014). "Beauty Beyond Skin". The Standard. Archived from the original on July 28, 2023. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d Stevens Muendo (2015). "Miss University beauty queen fails to impress at Miss Kenya Earth". Tha Standard. Archived from the original on December 26, 2021. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Arniel C. Serato (March 4, 2021). "Two Miss Grand International candidates test positive for COVID-19" (in Tagalog). Philippines Entertainment Portal. Archived from the original on July 28, 2023. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  4. ^ Justin Coulibaly (March 5, 2021). "Miss Grand Kenya et celle du Nigeria testées positives au Coronavirus". www.afrik.com (in French). Archived from the original on July 28, 2023. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c "Samantha Bernardo makes it to Top 20 of Miss Grand International!". GMA Network. March 27, 2021. Archived from the original on August 26, 2022. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  6. ^ a b Harry Rodríguez (November 18, 2013). "Janelee Chaparro se corona Miss Grand International 2013". www.metro.pr (in Spanish). Archived from the original on May 8, 2019. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
  7. ^ a b c Elly Gitau (June 21, 2015). "Miss Kenya franchise to plant 10 million trees". The Star. Archived from the original on July 28, 2023. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  8. ^ a b "2 candidates of Miss Grand International test positive for coronavirus". ABS-CBN. Archived from the original on July 28, 2023. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  9. ^ "Miss Grand Kenya Gala Night". event.talksasa.com. 2024. Archived from the original on July 12, 2024. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  10. ^ a b "Miss Grand Kenya 2024 candidates". africavotes.com. August 20, 2024. Retrieved August 20, 2024 – via Internet Archive.
  11. ^ @grand_mgi, takangiro and missgrand.kenya (September 1, 2024). "Miss Grand Kenya 2024, Magdalene Takangiro. She'll be representing Kenya in the Miss Grand International finals in the year 2025". Archived from the original on September 1, 2024. Retrieved September 1, 2024 – via Instagram.
  12. ^ @missgrand.kenya (September 1, 2024). "Your top 3: Miss Grand Kenya - Magdalene Takangiro, Miss Grand Kenya 1st Runner-up - Purity Khabukwi and Miss Grand Kenya 2nd Runner-up - Joy Favour". Archived from the original on September 1, 2024. Retrieved September 1, 2024 – via Instagram.
  13. ^ Steven Kisuli Muendo (2016). "Former beauty queen beaten". Tha Standard. Archived from the original on July 28, 2023. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  14. ^ "Lệ Quyên bất ngờ "trắng tay" tại Miss Grand International 2015". Dantri.com.vn (in Vietnamese). October 26, 2015. Archived from the original on February 9, 2023. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  15. ^ "ส่งเสริมความร่วมมือด้านการท่องเที่ยวผ่านการสร้างความตระหนักรู้ระหว่างกัน / Tourism promotion through mutually awareness raising" (in Thai). Royal Thai Embassy in Nairobi. February 25, 2021. Archived from the original on July 28, 2023. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  16. ^ Ada Wodu (December 28, 2019). "Kenyan, Irene Mukii, crowned Miss Africa 2019". The Punch. Archived from the original on July 28, 2023. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  17. ^ "Miss Grand Kenya 2024". africavotes.com. July 2024. Archived from the original on July 14, 2024. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  18. ^ @Miss Grand Kenya (September 1, 2024). "Miss Grand Kenya – Magdelene Takangiro". Archived from the original on September 1, 2024. Retrieved September 1, 2024 – via Instagram.
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