False; Veralyn Vonleh is not The First Miss Liberia

By: Joyclyn [email protected]

Claim: a local Liberian blog (The Liberian Influence) blogged on November 2 to wish the reigning beauty queen happy birthday; in that post, the blog referred to the queen as the first miss Liberia.

Source:  The Liberian influence blog

The post attracted 89 comments, 7 shares, and 604 reactions.

Verdict: False! Miss Veralyn Vonleh is not the first miss Liberia. There have been several beauty queens before her.

Full Text:  Miss Verolyn Veseh Vonleh, a 21-year-old indigene of Rivercess County, South-Central Liberia, was crowned Miss Liberia 2022. She won the crown in a competitive pageant during the early hours of Sunday, July 24, 2022.

She defeated fellow contestants Miss Kindness Wilson of (Grand Gedeh County) as 1st Runner-up and Miss Joicet Jartu Fodey of (Grand Cape Mount) as 2nd Runner-up, thus, replacing beautiful Nimba County Model Wokie Dolo, who held the title for the last five years after she won the crown in 2016.

Miss Liberia was historically the main event when it came to showbiz. Having it all; fashion, pomp, pageantry, elegance, entertainment, thrills, and disappointment. The tragic civil war interrupted all this, stalling so much progress in Liberia, with Miss Liberia being no exception.

Intermittently the pageant was held, each time allowing young women to hope and dream and allowing some of them to aspire to be known as the most beautiful, eloquent, and talented “Royalty” in Liberia.

That start and stop era of Miss Liberia is now at an end. On July 23, 2022, Liberia prepares to see 15 beautiful young women grace the stage at the historic Centennial Pavilion for the first time in almost a decade. From Bomi to Sinoe – coast to coast, history is about to be made in Liberian pageantry.

Fifteen exemplary members of Liberian Royalty participated in taking the stage and seeing which one of them merits the title and name of Miss Liberia.

Miss Liberia is to sell Liberia’s culture and tradition to the rest of the world through Miss Liberia and showcase the pageant as a national unifier.

Verification: Miss Liberia pageant was held for the first time in 1962. The p Ministry of Information, Culture, and Tourism (MICAT) sponsored the pageant. Traditionally, the winner represents Liberia at the Miss World pageant. In 1974 – 1977 the winner represented the country at the Miss Universe pageant. This pageant is unrelated to the Miss Liberia U.S.A pageant. There were 26 holders of the ‘Miss Liberia’ title before Ms. Vonleh made the list of 27 titleholders. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Liberia

Conclusion: Following our verification, the information provided by the blog that Ms. Veralyn Vonleh is the first Miss Liberia is incorrect.