Miss Liberia Accuses Min. Princess Turkolon of Undermining Her

By R. Joyclyn Wea

Miss Liberia Wokie Dolo has accused the Assistant Minister of Tourism at the Ministry of Information Cultural Affairs and Tourism (MICAT), Princess Turkolon of undermining her effort to have Liberia represented at this year’s Miss Africa Beauty Pageant expected to take place in South Africa soon.

The Liberia Beauty Queen disclosed that about three weeks ago, Minister Turkolon wrote the organizer of the Miss Africa Beauty Pageant to deny Farsina Princess Farmah who was recently selected to represent the Country from partaking in said event on grounds that she is unqualified.

Min. Turkolon in a communication to the pageant organizers dated 2019, described the participation of Ms. Farmah in the pending Miss Africa beauty pageant as unlawful and misrepresentation of Liberia something Ms. Dolo sees as undermining effort by the office of Miss Liberia to have the country represented in this year’s event.

Min. Turkolon letter added: “In view of the above; we write to request that she should not be allowed to participate in the pageant as Liberia’s representative, as the Government has no knowledge of her representation.   As per our policy, a person representing Liberia to such an event should be among the three contestants of Miss Liberia.”

But, Ms. Dolo, argued that Farmah is qualified to represent Liberia at this year’s Miss Africa after emerging as the 1st runner -up of the Miss Earth-Liberia, a Beauty Pageant which has been duly registered under the laws of Liberia.

Queen Dolo “Even if Minister Turkolon wants to send someone aside from the one I sent it cannot be the 1st runner-up while I’m still wearing the crown.  The action by Minister Turkolon is a total disrespect to my office and the title I carried.”

She terms the minister’s action as disappointing and glaring act of betrayal   saying “The truth of the matter is that the minister and her team were aware of Farmah participation at this year Miss Africa beauty pageant; yet, she decided to tarnish my hard earned reputation by discrediting and undermining my work for no good reason.”

Ms. Dolo further accused Minister Turkolon of also wrongly informing the organizers of the pageant that her reign as Miss Liberia has expired when in fact the Government of Liberia had not hosted any pageant.

“I remain, Miss Liberia until the government can organize another pageant for me to turn the crown to the next queen. Once that has not happened, I’m still the reigning queen of Liberia.”

“What is so shocking to me is that the minister wrote the organizers saying that my reign is over but not that of the 1st runner who contested along with me. The action by the minister tells you that she is using her power to undermine my efforts to empower ordinary girls who want to make an impact through pageantry,” Queen Dolo.

Accordingly, Ms. Dolo, who is the National Director for Miss Africa in Liberia, has disclosed that her organization La Queen entertainment with the consent of the ministry bought the rights to all international pageant franchise like the one in questions.

Ms. Dolo added: “The minister is envying and undermining me for no good reason because she knows that I bought these franchises when the ministry did not have the funds to do some.”

Ms. Dolo also said the minister has failed since she got the job over a year ago to develop a term of reference that shows who should send a representative to an international pageant.

“Furthermore, the ministry does not own any international pageants franchise, and I bet them to say they do,” she said. “It was because of this reason I was forced to personally purchased the Miss World and Miss Universe franchises before I was allowed to represent Liberia a year ago.

Ms. Dolo explained that during all of her trips representing Liberia at international pageants, she did not receive a dime from the government as support neither have she been giving the office space or monthly Stipends as promised by the Government.

“The Minister is not only undermining me, but she is also trying to humiliate me after I have worked tirelessly to secure a brand for myself, and taking the country to the international stage without her office contribution towards my reign as well as creating multiple platforms for young women to showcase their talents to the world,” Ms. Dolo explained.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Information Cultural Affairs and Tourism in a press release claimed Queen Dolo has no authority to decide who represents the Country at an international event, be it regional, continental or global.

“Having communicated with the organizers of Miss Africa 2019, MICAT wishes to announce that Tina Finda Nyunkar, the 1st runner-up of Miss Liberia 2017, has been selected as the Country’s representative at the all prestigious Miss Africa 2019 pageant,” MICAT press release added.