Miss Tourism Kenya: Jacqueline Jeruto Komen - Beauty from Baringo

She looked rather casual. As she entered our offices on Monday morning, one would hardly recognise that she was the newly-crowned Miss Tourism.

Away from the glitter and the poise she had employed a night ago to clinch the coveted Miss Tourism title, the 21-year-old Jacqueline Jeruto Komen, from Baringo County, wore a yellow jumpsuit and a black trench coat. The truth, that she was the latest reigning beauty in town had hardly dawned on her.

Soon, the phone calls started to come. One was from Vera Beauty, the beauty school whose CEO holds the Miss Tourism franchise. The other was from her Miss Baringo County management team. The media, friends... everyone now literally wanted a piece of her. And as we started recounting the moments, the truth started to slowly sink. A little smile here and there. It was her moment of glory.

How could it be that the rather laid back beauty, the only girl in a staunch Christian family of five would go ahead and win one of the most prestigious beauty crowns in the land after deceiving her mum to attend the auditions in borrowed clothes?

“I lied to my mum that I had secured a job as a make-up artiste during the Kabarnet auditions only to meet with my friends who gave me some of their clothes to enter the audition,” the soft-spoken Sunday school teacher at Sinonin and law student at Kabarak University told Pulse.

“During the auditions, the DJ played some secular music as everyone did their auditions but I couldn’t dance to that due to my Christian beliefs. Luckily, I still qualified,” recalls the young beauty who scored straight As in KCSE and was enrolled for a computer engineering degree course at JKUAT. There, she studied for three years before dropping out to join Kabarak University for her dream course.

Now, her life has totally been on the up and up. The crown came with a Sh1.2 million cash award, a diplomatic passport, a tax free car and VIP privileges backed by the Government.

Simply put, she is a diplomat of sorts. In fact, minutes before this interview, she was busy arranging for her visa to attend an international conference in Germany, her first assignment.

The big success however did not come on a silver platter.

“The green dress I wore during the crowning cost me Sh25,000. My total budget for the preparation came to a total of Sh374,000. I would like to thank Dr Emmy Cheboi, the wife of the Baringo Governor and the county as a whole, not forgetting Dr Gladys Cherobon of Kabarak University for their support,” says the beauty who always spotted a bald head, up until she entered the competition’s finals.

The Saturday ceremony was a beauty and cultural showcase that revived the one time most coveted beauty pageant, Miss Tourism, and the dream of many young girls and industry players who believe that its success would spur the growth of the glamour industry in Kenya.

The 42 young women from different counties who assembled at KICC for the Miss Tourism 2014-2015 finals on Saturday night were an accurate representation of the diversity of Kenya.

Beautiful diversity For the first time in many years, the nomad, the hunter, the farmer and the fisher were accepted in their true representation.

During the grand entry into the academy and into the finals, Miss Tourism Siaya Clarice Okello came on a boat-shaped scooter inscribed Miss Sitatunga, with tilapia dangling from the sides; both Miss Laikipia, Elizabeth Wambui and Miss Marsabit Darmi Jattani, arrived on camel back while Miss Tourism Kitui County was carried by four bare-chested men on their shoulders.

Miss Baringo County arrived aboard a mini surrounded by individuals dressed in traditional Tugen attire, Miss Narok County was wearing elaborate beaded collars accompanied by Maasai morans while Miss Tourism Makueni County chose the modern political style of travelling in a fuel guzzler.

The event was an opportunity to show off the beautiful diversity of an otherwise deeply divided nation.

The event was the perfect example of how to organise a beauty pageant, even as much as its setting borrowed heavily from the proceedings at Miss World Kenya, another successful beauty showcase that was held at the same venue late last year.

Just like Miss World Kenya, Miss Tourism started with mobilisation from the grassroots with the beauty queens travelling to their homes to be declared the fairest maiden.

Right from the counties, the contestants built on the momentum, meeting ordinary villagers, going on official outings with MCAs and governors together with their wives, who are the patrons of the event at county level.

When they arrived at KICC, the beauties had given their all for the biggest night of their lives. Backstage, the models prepared their speeches so that when they arrived on stage, their eloquence would prove that they possessed both beauty and brains - something they did effortlessly.

The models used their platforms to speak about the various tourist attractions and investment opportunities in their counties.

They had glossy hair, picture-perfect make-up and flowing dresses covering their bikini bodies. Everywhere you looked there were very tall, rather thin, and pretty girls getting primped, fluffed and outfitted.

On the stage, they walked gracefully in six-inch heels, delicately balancing their sway as they strutted the catwalk.

The night was full of surprises as no one could actually guess who would win.

Most of these events drag on for too long and this one was not an exception as it ran into the morning, but still the hall was full to capacity.

The smiley Miss Nyamira, Evelyn Arasa, who was beaten by Jeruto to land in second place, was also the lady of the moment as a chanting delegation from her county momentarily stopped the proceedings to celebrate her.

Wambui Karanja, the Miss Culture Nairobi County, emerged the second runners up.

After she was crowned, the 21-year-old Jeruto said that she was dedicating her success and title to “promotion of lasting peace in Baringo County to bring an end to the cattle rustling menace in some parts of the county and to fight FGM.” 

Slice of the pie                                                                                                                                                                      Miss Murang’a received the People’s Choice award after emerging as the most voted for contestant by fans on SMS.

The top nine winners were from Baringo County (North Rift Region), Kakamega County (Lake Victoria, Western Region), Nairobi County (Greater Nairobi Region), Meru County (Southern Savannah and Eastern region) and Marsabit County (Northern Frontier Region)

Narok County emerged the winner in South Rift Region, Kwale County in Coastal Region, Nyamira County in Lake Victoria, Nyanza Region and in the Mt Kenya Region, Kirinyaga County was the winner.

The winner in the talent category was Miss Tharaka Nithi, Kitui County won the Friendship Award for being the friendliest contestant and the Cultural Dresses category was won by Miss Elgeyo Marakwet County. Nairobi County won in the Grand Entry Category.

The show was an awkward mix of playfulness and weirdness. There were some moments that went against the usual formula of tears and gratitude.

A cheering team from Nyamira County wearing black t-shirts branded ‘#Team Nyamira’ were the masters of cheering managing to momentarily stop the proceedings as they celebrated.

“The people from Nyamira seem to be happier than anyone else,” Christopher Kirwa, one of the MCs for the night would interject when the celebrations almost became overbearing.

According to the organisers, one of the reasons Miss Tourism Kenya was founded was to get the youth to better their lives and be actively involved in creating a better tourism image for this beautiful country.

The success of the event did not come easily especially after years of waiting.

The various delegations that came from the counties were a reflection of the massive mobilisation by tourism ministers from various counties, noted Jones Omwenga, the executive member in charge of Tourism in Nyamira County.

The cheerful audience was entertained by comedians Chipukizi and David the Student and musicians Size 8 and Nameless with Chris Kirwa and Saidu Lulu as the MCs.

The event was graced by cabinet secretaries Phylis Kandie and Amina Mohammed, dozens of governors and deputy governors and hundreds of MCAs. Also present were the wives of governors, who were the patrons of the pageants at county level.

Alice Kamunge, the Miss Tourism Kenya franchise holder, first came up with the idea in 2001 as she attended a tourism workshop when news of the Kyanguli School dormitory arson flashed in the news.

From that moment, she made up her mind to inspire beauty and celebrate of life. In 2001, the title was won by Debra Sanaipei, Vivien Maina took the crown in 2002 and then Lisa Marie Mwani in 2003.