The fever for this year’s Miss East Africa is picking up as Somalia announced Halifa Ayan Yusuf as its representative for the finals planned for Dar es Salaam in December.

Miss Halifa Ayan Yusuf

Coordinator of event, Rena Callist said that the 21 girl born in Hargeisa in Somalia is ready for the finals at the Mlimani City Hall on December 7.

She will join other finalist Jocelyne Diana Maro (22), (Tanzania), Akuot Philip Suzan (Southern Sudan), Rahwa Afeworki (Eritrea), Lula Teklehaimanot (Ethiopia), Mugisha Nadege (Burundi), Annabelle Marvel Pointe (Seychelles) and Ayisha Nagudi (Uganda). Callist said preparations for the finals are in top gear as they are headng towards the finals.

“We are finalizing some of the key logistical issues with the National Arts Council, (BASATA ) so that we stage the event in a required standard taking into account that the event will involve candidates from 16 countries,” he said.

He named other countries which have confirmed to participate in the event as Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti, Southern Sudan, Malawi, Seychelles, Madagascar, Reunion, Comoros and Mauritius. Callist said more than 3,120 contestants had registered to compete in the preliminaries of Miss East Africa beauty contest.