Sixteen young ladies vying to be crowned the "Most Beautiful Girl in Ghana' strutted down "the red catwalk' to face questions from five judges at the auditorium of the Centre for National Culture in Cape Coast last Saturday night. For the occasion, the auditorium was transformed into a temporary TV studio for the premier recording of the private preliminary selection session of the Miss Malaika Ghana 2003 beauty pageant.

Earlier in the day, the ladies presented themselves for a pre-selection screening, undergoing a tight interview session, which sought to determine among other criteria, their eloquence, elegance and IQ.

With a high premium placed on intelligence for the Miss Malaika Ghana event, it was no wonder that only a few confident women showed up to participate in the event, and were all entered to walk down 'the red catwalk' and face a panel of eminent judges in the evening session to answer questions on personal ambitions and international issues. There are no height restrictions or rigid body statistics, just a proportionate figure and beautiful face is required.
Drawn mainly from the University of Cape Coast and Takoradi Polytechnic, the delegates appeared in two rounds, first to introduce themselves and then to interact and answer questions from the judges, who included Kwame Sefa-Kayi, a distinguished radio presenter, Theresa Ayoade, General Manager of Charterhouse Productions, Juno Abena Turkson, arts writer. Miss Malaika Ghana, which is being staged as a reality TV show will see all aspects of the girls' selection leading up to the national event, telecast on partner station, TV3.
"Cape Coast gave us some very confident ladies and we eagerly wait to see what Kumasi this Saturday, and Accra will produce this Saturday and next week, said Mrs. Theresa Ayoade, the event director. "Twelve delegates will eventually be selected out of all those we are screening now, those from last week's selection in Cape Coast, and those we will be screening this Saturday, July 6, in Kumasi, in Accra on July 12, and they will be in the final to vie for the coveted title at the national event at the Accra International conference Centre on September 13, 2003." This final 12 will be announced on July 18.
Produced by Charterhouse, the lady who emerges as Miss Malaika Ghana 2003 will receive ?20 million cash, the use of a Kia Sephia as official car fully insured by Phoenix Insurance.