Now, legal action threatened in Malaika squabble

THE Miss Malaika Namibia controversy now appears headed for the courts after the mother of the Second Princess, Penny Uudjombala, indicated she planned to take legal action.

This follows revelations that three of the judges had voted for her as the winner of the beauty pageant. The First Princess, Celeste Goliath, has also claimed she should be the rightful Miss Malaika Namibia after being chosen by three of the judges.”It is really unfair and I have decided to make a case against the organisers [of the pageant] so that this matter can be sorted out once and for all,” said Natalia Sheya, Uudjombala’s mother.The beauty pageant, held last weekend in Windhoek, has ignited controversy after six of the seven judges in the competition disclosed that none of them picked the eventual winner, Helena Mungunda.Mungunda was judged the overall winner by businessman Matthew Gowaseb, who was dubbed the “independent judge” and had the final say.Gowaseb has said Mungunda was chosen mainly because of the way she handled the question related to HIV-AIDS – the theme of the competition.”I have already got a lawyer and I will make sure that my daughter gets what she deserves.It’s time we rooted out corruption in Namibia,” said Sheya.Uudjombala herself said: “Most people think I should have won and it is not fair to her [Mungunda] and its not fair to me because we can’t say she is the rightful winner.”It makes no sense to me to wear a crown or bear a title if the whole nation doesn’t support it …,” she claimed.Goliath said: “It was really unfair… I could have made it and I don’t know what went wrong.I feel that being a health worker should have been part of the requirements for the competition”.Penny and her mother claimed the process was not transparent and that the competition requirements should have included nursing qualification that would have helped the winner enhance her role in fighting HIV-AIDS.The First Princess, Celeste Goliath, has also claimed she should be the rightful Miss Malaika Namibia after being chosen by three of the judges. “It is really unfair and I have decided to make a case against the organisers [of the pageant] so that this matter can be sorted out once and for all,” said Natalia Sheya, Uudjombala’s mother. The beauty pageant, held last weekend in Windhoek, has ignited controversy after six of the seven judges in the competition disclosed that none of them picked the eventual winner, Helena Mungunda. Mungunda was judged the overall winner by businessman Matthew Gowaseb, who was dubbed the “independent judge” and had the final say. Gowaseb has said Mungunda was chosen mainly because of the way she handled the question related to HIV-AIDS – the theme of the competition. “I have already got a lawyer and I will make sure that my daughter gets what she deserves. It’s time we rooted out corruption in Namibia,” said Sheya. Uudjombala herself said: “Most people think I should have won and it is not fair to her [Mungunda] and its not fair to me because we can’t say she is the rightful winner. “It makes no sense to me to wear a crown or bear a title if the whole nation doesn’t support it …,” she claimed. Goliath said: “It was really unfair… I could have made it and I don’t know what went wrong. I feel that being a health worker should have been part of the requirements for the competition”. Penny and her mother claimed the process was not transparent and that the competition requirements should have included nursing qualification that would have helped the winner enhance her role in fighting HIV-AIDS.