By Benjamin Makafui Attipoe, Old Baika
A 20-year-old volunteer teacher from Agotime Kpetoe in the Agotime Ziope District of the Volta Region, Ms. Esther Sefa Torbi, has been adjudged Miss Omaboryor 2025 at the sixth edition of the annual beauty pageant of the Old Baika community in the Jasikan District of the Oti Region. Ms. Torbi beat three (3) other contestants in the six (6) hour keenly contested event to emerge winner.
The Old Baika beauty pageant dubbed Omaboryor Queen Pageantry was instituted in 2019 by the citizens, community leaders and the youth of the area led by Nana Yaa Boatemaa, a social, gender and cultural advocate of the area.
Miss Omaboryor literally means ‘Miss Love Your Hometown’ in the Leleme language of the people of the area.
The beauty pageant has grown to become a platform not only to promote the culture, unity and development of the Old Baika community but also empower and expose the young ladies in the community and beyond to discipline, positive character traits, societal values, perseverance and hardwork. It has become a forum for encouraging young girls to focus on their dreams in life and also lead decent lives as role models of their various communities, families and the society in general.
The other three (3) contestants in the competition were fifteen (15) year old Junior High School (JHS) graduate, Ms. Magdalene Agoti from New Baika, a seventeen (17) year old Senior High School (SHS) graduate, Ms. Faustina Edzenunye from Old Baika as well as a thirty-two (32) year old teacher, Ms. Yayra Addor from Hohoe.
The contest had four (4) rounds. Round One (1) was devoted for cat walk whiles Round Two (2) was a description of or a story about the hometown of the contestants. In Round Three (3), each lady celebrated a hero from her community whereas in Round Four (4), the ladies shared their vision and project to be undertaken when crowned as Ms. Omaboryor 2025.
There were series of performances by groups and individuals such as Talented Boy and Choreography Dancers from Old Baika in order to entertain the large crowd of community members, fans and patrons who graced the occasion.
The three (3) judges for the event, Mr. Henry Otimpong from Accra, Ms. Esther Modza from Ho and Ms. Juliana Agble from Old Baika, allowed the contestants to perform their activities not only in the English language but also partly in Ewe and the Leleme languages. This enabled the residents of the community and fans to be carried along with the entire performance for the night.
At the end of the competition, twenty (20) year old Esther Sefa Torbi from Agotime Kpetoe was declared winner with Ms. Yayra Addor from Hohoe snatching the first runner-up position. Ms. Faustina Edzenunye from Old Baika came as the second runner-up whereas the third runner-up title went to Ms. Magdalene Agoti from New Baika. Ms. Torbi was presented with a desktop monitor as her prize in addition to a package of souvenirs which also went to all the four contestants for the evening.
Speaking to the media after the event, the Executive Director of the Omaboryor Beauty Pageant Project, Nana Yaa Boatemaa noted that the journey has not been easy in the last six (6) years, explaining that the project which started from a humble beginning in 2019, has not only grown to become an enviable platform but also groomed and provided opportunities for a number of young ladies who have so far taken part in the competition.
‘I am proud to say that a number of ladies that became associated with this beauty pageant brand have changed for the better, impacting many others including their peers in their small ways in their various communities’, Nana Yaa Boatemaa remarked.
She emphasized that apart from promoting the cultural values and traditions of the chiefs and people of Old Baika and beyond, building confidence, empowering the ladies to cultivate good morals, encouraging the youth especially the girls to aspire to greater heights and also exposing them to the world through their God-given talents, has been her vision and mission for her people since the inception of the programme.
Nana Yaa Boatemaa called on the chiefs and people of Old Baika and by extension Jasikan, corporate Ghana, individuals and organizations, well-meaning Ghanaians, all political actors including the Member of Parliament (MP) and District Chief Executive (DCE) not only to support the initiative or brand but also encourage the young ladies to take part in future competitions to empower themselves for the future.
Ms. Omaboryor 2025, Esther Sefa Torbi told our newsteam in an interview that the glory was the Lord’s. Ms. Esther, who shared tears when she was declared as winner, described it as tears of joy, adding that it was with mixed feelings to be crowned as Ms. Omaboryor 2025.
She urged all ladies to be disciplined and decent in their endeavours, further urging them to aspire to greater heights in life. According to Ms. Torbi, even though challenges will come, they are insurmountable.
Ms. Janet Obimpeh and Mr. Emmanuel Nyarko who were the Masters of Ceremony (MCs) at the event, advised the ladies to use the opportunity to educate their younger ones, friends and colleagues to take their education very seriously.
