The Miss Rwanda pageant has been suspended following the April arrest of its organizer on suspicion of sexual assault, the Rwandan Ministry of Youth and Culture announced.
The contest organizer, Dieudonne Ishimwe, a 36-year-old former musician known as Prince Kid, was arrested on April 27 for “crimes related to sexual assault,” according to the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB), the state police.
A statement from the ministry issued Monday said “the Miss Rwanda beauty pageant is suspended pending the outcome of investigations” against Ishimwe.
Ishimwe, director of Rwanda Inspiration Backup, the company that organizes the annual Miss Rwanda pageant, is suspected of assaulting “former Miss Rwanda contestants” on several occasions, RIB spokesman Thierry Murangira said at the time of his arrest.
A week before his arrest, the organization had announced the resignation of a former Miss Rwanda from her position as director of communication after four years of collaboration.
The Miss Rwanda pageant, which bills itself as the largest beauty pageant in East Africa, has been included in the Miss World competition since 2016.