The rot in the Miss Ghana Pageant: The case of Margaret Dery

The rumours surrounding the happenings with regards to the Miss Ghana pageant, its organizers and the winners are becoming more and more prominent as the days go by. Just recently, three former Miss Ghana winners: Stephanie Karikari (2010), Giuseppina Nana Akua Baafi (2013) and Antoinette Delali Kemevor (2015) have opened up about the ordeal they went through at the hands of Exclusive Events Ghana: the organizers of the Miss Ghana pageant headed by Inna Patty. The face of Exclusive Events has been accused of emotional and psychological abuse, exploitation of the young women and putting them in uncomfortable situations for sexual harassment and unwanted sexual advances for money to support their projects and lifestyles as beauty queens.

Though Inna Patty has come out to deny the allegations levelled against her and Exclusive Events, her account of events is not very convincing. The consistencies in the narratives presented by the former queens suggest that these are no longer just rumours but facts. If these former winners went through such ordeals then by way of projection, we believe the current Miss Ghana, Miss Margaret Dery (2017) will receive her share of the horror. In our quest to find out more, we had an exclusive interview with a source close to both the current queen and the organizers.

These are the damning facts we found out:

1. Miss Margaret Dery hasn’t received her prize package. Every day, Inna Patty gives a new excuse about the delay in presenting her with the winning prize. The likes of Ghana’s Most Beautiful and Miss Malaika have taken the cars and cash prizes promised them. Margaret still takes an uber to attend programs.

2. Akosombo Textiles Limited (ATL) gives Ms. Dery 3 fabrics a month though Margaret attends approximately 3 to 4 events a week. So she is forced to purchase more materials with her own money and per the contract, she cannot wear any other brand but ATL.

3. Per the contract, she has to work at Exclusive Events daily, which she doesn’t get paid for regularly. She sometimes picks a taxi or uber and if she is late, Exclusive Events fines her GH 100. The queen gets fined for lateness though Inna Patty and her team do not arrange for transportation for her to the events she is assigned to attend.

4. She has been tasked to raise $15,000 for a sick girl (Gifty). Ms. Dery has no place to sleep and all the stress Inna Patty is putting her through makes it difficult for her to work effectively towards the projects she is supposed to undertake as beauty queen. Issues concerning the house/accommodation she was promised seem to have reached a dead-end. She currently lives at a relative’s house while Inna Patty brushes off her concerns whenever she brings up the issue of the accommodation she was promised as part of the prize package.

5. Inna Patty has created a rift between her and the runners-up for this year’s pageant to prevent her from mobilizing with them to get justice. Margaret is told that if she is not up to the task, she will be stripped of the crown and the crown will be given to the runner-up. Miss Dery has not communicated in any form with the former winners.

6. Margaret’s father will be in Accra this week, he has been invited to a meeting by Inna Patty. It is expected that Mr. Gilbert Dery will attend the meeting with a lawyer.

Are these young unassuming ladies crowned queens in the eyes of the public but treated like slaves behind the scenes? If all these stories are true, who will fight for their rights? What are the options available to them? The integrity of Exclusive Events Ghana has been in question for a while now, it is time for something to be done about. These stories are consistent and corroborative enough to instigate an investigation into the activities of Exclusive Events Ghana and Inna Patty. We hope that Margaret Dery and her team will work diligently to get Margaret justice so that the rot, exploitation and abuse that Exclusive Events has perpetuated will be put to a stop now.