Will Serena Represent Ghana-At Miss World 2004?

Will Serena Naa Ashie Roye, Miss Ghana 2003, crowned at The Accra International Conference Centre on Saturday, December 19, 2003 still represent Ghana at the 2004 Miss World Pageant? This came up at question time during the transfer of management and organisational right of the Miss Ghana Pageant from Media Whizz Kids to Sparrow Productions Limited.

In answer, both the old and new management of the pageant explained that they are in consultations over the issue and the result will be announced when this year?s pageant is launched on March 26, 2004. Media Whizz Kids (MWK) who for several years have managed and organised the Miss Ghana Pageant considered Ghana?s leading entertainment event, last Tuesday transferred the management and organisation of the pageant to Sparrow Productions Limited (SPL), a media and events organisational company.

At a press briefing at the Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra, Mr Gaddy Laryea, Chairman of MWK stated that, his organisation is transferring the organisation of the event to SPL ? a dynamic, robust and versatile company which will subsequently have absolute responsibility for the pageant?.According to him, they are convinced the transfer would provide a win win situation for the Miss Ghana situation.

?For MWK, we will have the opportunity to focus more on our core business of Public Relations and Events Management to correct the erroneous public perception that MWK only manages the organisation of Miss Ghana events?. Mr Laryea also noted that the pageant will benefit from the synergy that will be generated from putting together the resources from the two companies MWK with years of learning, SPL with fresh ideas, not to mention the new lease of vibrant life the Sparrow Productions with its energetic, youthful and dedicated work will inject into the pageant.

In her speech, Miss Shirley Frimpong-Manso, Managing Director of Sparrow Productions intimated that, since they commenced operations in November 2003, they have been associated with large and small corporate organisations in Ghana, managing their media and promotional events.

And she hoped that the additional responsibility would give an added confidence to their customers about their abilities.Miss Shirley Frimpong-Manso indicated that her team has set high standards for themselves and hope to be able to meet their obligations as organisers well within schedule.

?We hope to be able to pleasantly surprise all of you with a fresh approach to the structure and content of the event, while maintaining the basic essence. As an ambassador of our great nation, we hope the Miss Ghana crown will add to our stature internationally and build on the effort of our government to grow the tourism industry.

?We wish to back some charitable efforts on a more permanent basis and give a new impetus to the persona of the Miss Ghana contestants. We want the girl from Ghana to compete and win the Miss World contest and then bring that international pageant to Ghana? she added.

In a chat with Mr Gaddy Laryea, he emphasised the determination of Media Whizz Kids to see the Miss Ghana event move onto a higher pedestal and explained that Sparrow Productions will manage and organise the event for five years with an option to buy it out eventually.

He further explained in answer to a suggestion that, contrary to the belief by a section of the general public that some results of the Miss Ghana pageant in the past had been doctored to favour particular contestants, no such thing had ever happened before.

He pointed out that since beauty is perceived differently by all, there is bound to be controversy when choices were made in such events sometimes.According to him, there was only one instance when the beauty contestants protested and even then, the choice of the judges for the beauty queen turned out to be one of the best ever in the history of the pageant.

Mr Laryea disclosed that all records of the judges of the various pageants for several years in the judges? own hands are still kept and promised to hand them over to the new management team.