Hilda Akua was recently crowned as Miss Universe Ghana in a pageant held in the capital city of Accra. While Hilda was indeed a worthy winner, the pageant was not without any controversy. First is the fact that the country is increasingly dependent on Ghanaian beauties that are based overseas. Hilda is based in the United States and she along with Awurama Simpson (2010) and Yayra Erica Nego (2011, who was also a Miss USA contestant) represented the current trend of sidelining local beauties.
The second controversy is specific to this contest. Many pageant observers where aghast that one contestant named Aisha did not even make it to the Top 5. Everyone on the Top 5 were from the United States and many believe that Aisha was sidelined, despite being miles ahead of Hilda, probably because of her religion (she’s a Muslim).
The third controversy happened during the question and answer portion. Hilda was not supposed to be the last to answer but somehow it was switched such that she already heard the question and numerous answers before she was asked! All of these controversies had the Ghanaians up in arms, venting their frustration on social media. Many are putting a huge question mark on the credibility of the pageant.
Ghana has only one semifinalist at Miss Universe since it first participated in 1991. It was in Miss Universe 1999 that Akuba Cudjoe, a homegrown beauty, surprisingly made it to the Top 10.
