Miss Malaika

The Miss Malaika UK beauty contest  was held on 11th October 2008 at the New Empire Theatre in Southend. In  this exclusive interview, the winner, Miss Primrose Mutsigiri tells MAMBO about her plans to use the title to help other people in the African community. 

For Primrose Mutsigiri, being crowned Miss Malaika UK for 2008 was yet another achievement in a growing list of beauty awards that she has won (‘Malaika’ is a Swahili word meaning ‘Angel’). The 20 year-old university student already has an impressive collection of tiaras: she is the previous winner of the Miss Zimbabwe UK beauty contest, the Miss Africa UK and the Miss Southern Africa UK contests.

But it is the Miss Malaika crown that Miss Mutsigiri will make the best use of (‘Malaika’ is a Swahili word meaning ‘Angel’). Her intentions were made clear on the night of the pageant. During the on-stage question-and-answer session, she was asked what she would do if she won the contest. The answer came out quick and clear: Community work to help improve the welfare of Africans.  

Later on during an interview with MAMBO, she said: “I participated in the Miss Malaika beauty contest because I knew it would give me a platform for realising my passion for helping disadvantaged African communities in the Diaspora as well as in Africa.”

Raising awareness of sexual health is top of Miss Mutsigiri’s main areas of interest. She says young Africans of her age have an important role in teaching the community the importance of good sexual health.

“For cultural reasons, many older generation Africans are too shy to talk about sex and sexual health. People of my age are less tied to tradition; we should take on the responsibility of spreading the safer sex message,” she said.

According to her, the best sexual health message is one that urges ‘protection’ and regular sexual health testing rather than ‘abstinence’ (i.e. avoiding sex altogether). “Asking people to practice safer sex works better because it sets an easier goal for people to achieve, whereas asking people to not have sex is like telling them to go and climb a mountain,” she explains. 

Miss Mutsigiri says that, in order to support the safer sex message, condoms should be made more available to the African community, and people should be taught how to use them properly.
She is surprised that many Africans still find it embarrassing to use condoms. Or even to be seen carrying one.

“Let’s get over the embarrassment of the condom,” she says. “Let’s pass the word around: that by not using condoms, we are putting our sexual health at risk.” 

She also urges regular sexual health testing. “We need to start to feel normal about sexual screening. The more regularly we test, the more we shall be aware of the need to protect ourselves against infections,” she said.

Mutsigiri has a busy few months ahead of her. Apart from charitable work in the UK, she is due to travel to Nigeria, and later on to Zambia (,) where she will help raise money for the Mumba Children’s Home, a project set up in memory of Brian Mumba Mulenga, a 13-year old boy who was killed in a road accident in 2002.

Helping children is one her passions, partly because of a personal link. “My adoptive sister grew up in an orphanage in Ghana, after losing her parents,” she said. “This has given me the added passion for helping to improve the life and welfare of disadvantaged children”.

It is a sign of Mutsigiri’s dedication, commitment and energy that she is able to all these community services while also pursuing her university education. Little wonder she is winner of not one, but four beauty contests.

Posted On: 12 June 2009 at 02:51PM
Tags: Miss Malaika

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