Liberians can't agree on who is the fairestBy KEMO CHAM | Wednesday, April 18  2012 at  20:26

Liberia faces a possible ban from contesting the Miss Ecowas pageant after judges disputed the winner of last week's Miss Liberia 2012 contest, an event graced by the country's President.

The executive producer of the Ecowas Peace Pageant has threatened to disallow the Liberian representative if the crown was not returned to the “rightful winner”.

The decision could also prevent Liberian from taking part in the Miss World pageant in China later in August.

Confusion over who was the real winner of Miss Liberia 2011/2012, dubbed The Revolution emerged after the organisers settled for a choice that was not favoured by the judges.

Amid the brewing perplexity, the government, through the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, seized the crown from 18-year-old Leeda Knowlden, who had been announced the winner.

Eleven contestants featured in the competition, which climaxed early Sunday.

But a day of fashion and pageantry ended with confusion, with the judges distancing themselves from the declaration, saying it was not their decision.

"We absolutely have no idea on her announcement as winner; we never sent her name as winner; what we said is that she has the highest online votes from text messages and she is the most popular contestant, but not the winner," head judge, Madam Maxine Menson, said at a press conference following the unveiling of Miss Knowlden.

As the executive producer of the Ecowas Peace Pageant, Madam Menson was among a number of other international judges flown into the country to preside over the event, which was graced by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and her Cabinet.

Also in attendance were some of West Africa's top most celebrities, notably Nigerian actor Desmond Elliott, who served as co-master of the ceremony, and another Nigerian, comedian 'Klint The Drunk'.

Contestants vied for a brand new maroon Hyundai car as the top prize, courtesy of local GSM operator Cellcom which partnered with CT.Com, the chief organiser of the event.