Kenyan teen wins inaugural regional Albinism pageant

Miss Albino East Africa Maryanne Mungai from Kenya during the inaugural Mr and Miss Albino East Africa held at the KICC, Nairobi.[Elvis Ogina, Standard]

Kenya’s student was crowned the Miss Albinism East Africa 2018 at the inaugural fete held at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, Nairobi. Tanzania’s Emmanuel Silas, 20, emerged top in men’s category.

Maryanne Wambui Mungai, 19, is a pastry and bakery student at the Rift Valley School of Professional Studies. Emmanuel is an upcoming musician in Tanzania.

The winners of Mr and Miss Albinism were awarded cash prizes of Sh50,000 alongside endorsements from various corporate companies and will act as ambassadors for the partner organisations for a year.

Out of the 30 finalists from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, each country had two winners to represent their respective nations. Kenya’s winners were Maryanne Wambui who double as Miss Albinism Kenya chapter, while Mr Albinism Kenya was Oreen Wahulanya. Miss Uganda was Auma Olive while Mr was Paul Wakibona. Miss Tanzania was Chepkuman Kasure while Mr Emmanuel Silas

The Albinism Society of Kenya and partners in Uganda and Tanzania organised the pageant.

The Friday night event was held in honor of people with albinism in a bid to affirm the dignity of a group that has faced discrimination, violence and even murder.

Albinism is a rare, non-contagious, genetically inherited condition that leads to lack of pigmentation in the hair, skin and eyes, causing vulnerability to the sun and bright light, according to the United Nations.

Attacked and killed

People with albinism are attacked and killed in some African countries for their body parts because of belief that they possess magical powers. Most of the deaths occur in Tanzania

The pageant, which aims to overcome stigma, had the theme “accept me, include me, I can.”

The event is spearheaded by nominated Senator Isaac Mwaura who urged everyone to accept and embrace people living with albinism. “I urge our brothers and sisters to live in harmony with people living with albinism and stop discriminating against them,” Mwaura said

The chief guest of the event was Labour and Social Protection Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani who assured the albinism society that the proposed funds allocation for Sh100 million to help in subsidising the skin protection products and protective gears will approved by the government.