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Miss Grand Kenya

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For the most recent edition, see Miss Grand Kenya 2024.
Miss Grand Kenya
Formation31 August 2024; 10 months ago (2024-08-31)
FounderTanveen Onyango
TypeBeauty pageant
HeadquartersNairobi
Location
Official language
English
National director
Tanveen Onyango (2024)
Parent organization
  • Beauties of Africa Inc. (2013)
  • Miss Kenya (2015)
  • The Drop Models Kenya (2024)
AffiliationsMiss Grand International

Miss Grand Kenya is a Kenyan national female beauty pageant, established in 2024 by Tanveen Onyango, chairperson of The Drop Models Kenya modeling school, to choose delegates for the Miss Grand International pageant.[1] Previously, all Kenyan representatives for Miss Grand International were appointed.[2][3][4][5] The title was first awarded 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.[2]

The only placement of a Kenyan at Miss Grand International was in the top 20, reached by Irene Ng'endo in 2020.[6]

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.[2] However, she received non-placements.[7]

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,[8] while the main winner was sent to Miss Earth 2015.[3][8] However, the contract was discontinued the following year, and no Kenyan representative in Miss Grand International from 2016 to 2019. Later in 2020, Miss Africa 2019 winner Irene Mukii purchased the license and subsequently dominated herself to compete at that year's edition in Thailand,[4][9] and reached the top 20.[6]

In 2024, there was the first Miss Grand Kenya pageant held in August,[10] when Magdalene Takangiro was crowned the winner and expected to represent the country at the 2025 international competition in Thailand;[11][12][13] nevertheless, the organizer has not yet renewed the license for Kenya, rendering her ineligible for the aforementioned contest.[1]

Edition

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Location and date

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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.[10][14]

Edition Date Final venue Entrants Winner Ref.
1st[a] 31 August 2024 Delight Africa Hall, Nairobi 9 North Rift Valley – Magdalene Takangiro[b] [15]
Notes
  1. ^ The pageant occurred without a license from MGI PCL to the local organizer, The Drop Models Kenya, headed by Tanveen Onyango.[1]
  2. ^ Even though the winner of Miss Grand Kenya 2024 was expected to participate in the Miss Grand International 2024, the Kenyan organization later announced their representative would only compete internationally in 2025.[1]

International competition

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

Color keys
  •   : Declared as the winner
  •   : Ended as a runner-up (Top 5)
  •   : Ended as a finalist (Top 10)
  •   : Ended as a semifinalist (Top 20/21)
  •   : Ended as special awards winner
Year Miss Grand Kenya Title Placement Special Awards National Director
2025 Magdalene Takangiro[16] Miss Grand Kenya 2024[1] TBA Tanveen Onyango[1]
Did not compete between 2021-2024
2020 Irene Ng'endo[4][17] Miss Africa 2019[18] Top 20[6] Irene Ng'endo[9]
Did not compete between 2016-2019
2015 Elaine Mwangi[3][19] Miss Grand Kenya 2015[i][3] Unplaced[20] Tony Chirah[8]
Did not compete in 2014
2013 Pauline Akwacha[2] Top 10 finalist Miss World Kenya 2012[2] Unplaced[7] Andy Abulime[2]
Note
  1. ^ Supplementary title at the Miss Kenya 2015 pageant.

Participating national finalists

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

Represented 1st
Central
Coast
Eastern Y
Nairobi Y
North Eastern Y
Nyanza Y
Rift Valley-North
Rift Valley-South Y
Western Y
Total 9
Color keys
  •    : Declared as the winner
  •    : Ended as a 1st runner-up
  •    : Ended as a 2nd runner-up
  •  A  : Ended as a finalist, semifinalist (N) and unplaced (Y)
  •  ×  : Ended as withdrew during the competition
  •  ×  : Ended as no representative

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Miss Grand Kenya License Faces Uncertainly Amid Magdalene Takangiro's Shift to Modeling". Fashion Brunet. May 8, 2025. Retrieved May 11, 2025.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ a b "Miss Grand Kenya Gala Night". event.talksasa.com. 2024. Archived from the original on July 12, 2024. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  11. ^ Alejandro Basulto (November 18, 2024). "Emilia Dides tiene nuevo desafío: todo lo que tienes que saber sobre el Miss Grand Internacional 2025". ADN Radio Chile (in Spanish). Retrieved May 2, 2025.
  12. ^ "Qué es el Miss Grand Internacional, el nuevo certamen de belleza en el que participará Emilia Dides" [What is Miss Grand International, the new beauty pageant in which Emilia Dides will participate?]. T13 (in Spanish). November 18, 2024. Archived from the original on November 18, 2024. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
  13. ^ "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". Miss Grand Kenya. September 1, 2024. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  14. ^ "Miss Grand Kenya 2024 candidates". africavotes.com. August 20, 2024. Archived from the original on August 20, 2024. Retrieved August 20, 2024 – via Internet Archive.
  15. ^ @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.
  16. ^ Alejandro Basulto (November 18, 2024). "Emilia Dides tiene nuevo desafío: todo lo que tienes que saber sobre el Miss Grand Internacional 2025" [Emilia Dides has a new challenge: everything you need to know about Miss Grand International 2025]. ADN Radio Chile (in Spanish). Archived from the original on December 28, 2024. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
  17. ^ "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.
  18. ^ 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.
  19. ^ Steven Kisuli Muendo (2016). "Former beauty queen beaten". Tha Standard. Archived from the original on July 28, 2023. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  20. ^ "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.
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