An eighteen (18) year old former student of the Abor Senior High School (ABORSCO) at Abor in the Keta Municipality of the Volta Region, has been adjudged Miss Dzita 2025 at a colourful and keenly contested beauty pageant dubbed, ‘Miss Dzita 2025’ held at the Dzita ‘Meet Me There’ event grounds over the weekend.
Miss Rose Akpene Hagbah emerged the overall winner in the well-attended and patronized event after beating nine (9) other contestants in the race, graced by hundreds of patrons and citizens of the area, including the District Chief Executive (DCE) for the area, Hon. Sandra Seyram Kpedor.
The event, organized by the Dzita Development Association (DDA) through its youth wing, the New Generation Action Forum (NEGAF) for Development, formed part of activities to mark this year’s Homecoming Festival of the citizens of Dzita.
It was also used to showcase the rich cultural values, customs, and traditions of the chiefs and people of the Anlo State of the Volta Region. It was under the theme, ‘Celebrating Unity, Embracing Diversity’.
The participants, aged between eighteen (18) and twenty-five (25) years, were either students or seamstresses drawn from Dzita and Dzita-Agbledomi. All of them sewed most of the costumes used on stage themselves.
The ten (10) beauty queen contestants included Erica Seyram Deynu, 19, Angela Gbologah, 18, Heartwill Akorfa Gadikor, 21, and Grace Wopemenya, 19. The others were Rose Akpene Hagbah, 18, Emelia Atadika, 23 and Perfect Akpeko Ahiamo, 19. The rest were Sandra Atatsi Atsugah, 19, and Gloria Afetsi, 25.
Apart from individually introducing them to the charged gathering at the event, the contestants also displayed some free dance skills in addition to performing one or two traditional cultural dance forms to the admiration of all and sundry. They also engaged the crowd with their special talents’ display as well as future projects after which the three judges namely, Ms. Diana Edinam Agbanator, Mr. Reuben Yao Sakpaku and Ms. Jacqueline Dzifa Gana, subjected them to questions after speaking on their stands and views on topical issues such as illegal mining, sexual harassment, homosexuality, teenage pregnancy, illicit drug trafficking and drug abuse among the youth, environmental cleanliness and personal hygiene as well as unemployment and disrespect for the elderly in the society.
Earlier in her welcome address at the event, a spokesperson for NEGAF and one of the two female judges, Ms. Diana Edinam Agbanator, noted that the Dzita Beauty Pageant initiative underscored NEGAF’s proactive approach to addressing the educational needs of Dzita and fostering the culture of reading and lifelong learning.
She called for further support from all stakeholders and the citizens of Dzita to enable the organizers to sustain the gains so far made.
At the end of the more than six (6) hour contest, eighteen (18) year old Rose Akpene Hagbah snatched the coveted Miss Dzita 2025 title crown, taking home a Hair dryer as her prize. She was decorated by the outgoing Miss Dzita Queen.
The 1st Runner-Up award, being a Sewing Machine, went to Perfect Akpeko Ahiamo. She was decorated by the District Chief Executive (DCE) for the area, Hon. Sandra Seyram Kpedor, with the 2nd Runner-Up prize going to Erica Seyram Deynu, who went home with a Blender. The Assembly Member (AM) for the Dzita Electoral Area, Hon. David Normanyo, decorated her with the award.
Each of the seven (7) other contestants received an amount of Two Hundred Ghana Cedis (Ghc200.00) as part of their award. The Most Eloquent as well as the Most Confident awards also went to Rose Akpene Hagbah and Perfect Akpeko Ahiamo, respectively.
Speaking to our newsteam after being declared the winner, Ms. Rose Hagbah thanked God and the organizers for the opportunity to unearth their talents. She described the competition as tedious and challenging, adding that in spite of that, she still had the vim and courage to persevere to the end.
Ms. Hagbah used the opportunity to motivate her peers not only to show interest in these activities but also to challenge themselves to unearth their God-given talents.
She was grateful to the organizers and all stakeholders for the support and hoped that the platform would expose them to greater opportunities in the coming years.
One of the two Masters of Ceremony at the event, Mr. John Love Marcus Mawudzro, told our newsteam in an interview that Ms. Hagbah Rose distinguished herself throughout the competition, adding that he was not surprised Rose emerged victorious at the end of the contest. Mr. Mawudzro expressed the hope that the pageant and other activities for the homecoming would go a long way to further unite the people of Dzita, for the community’s development efforts to be realized.