{"id":2000112506,"date":"2026-05-19T12:07:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T10:07:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000112506"},"modified":"2026-05-19T12:08:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T10:08:03","slug":"burundis-miss-popular-stripped-of-crown-amid-asylum-reports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/burundis-miss-popular-stripped-of-crown-amid-asylum-reports\/","title":{"rendered":"Burundi\u2019s \u2018Miss Popular\u2019 stripped of crown amid asylum reports"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The pageant\u2019s organising body, INGO S.A., announced the immediate revocation of her title on May 18, 2026. The decision comes after Celeste allegedly violated her contract by travelling abroad without prior notification and subsequently ignoring repeated attempts by management to establish contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to regional media reports, Celeste recently departed for Europe, where she is alleged to have submitted an asylum application immediately upon arrival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once these reports surfaced, INGO S.A. launched an internal inquiry and reached out to Celeste for clarification regarding her travel status and whereabouts. The organisation decided to revoke her crown after she failed to respond to multiple inquiries, leaving her contract in direct violation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an official statement, the organisers detailed the terms of the revocation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMugisha Monica Celeste is no longer permitted to use the crown, the title, or any official Miss Burundi branding across any platform, including social media. Any continued use of the crown will be treated as misrepresentation and may result in legal action.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Celeste won the coveted “Miss Popularity” (Miss Populaire) title during the Miss Burundi grand finale on July 25, 2025, a notable year that marked the return of the national pageant after a two-year hiatus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The decision has sparked debate on social media. Some users argue that titleholders are bound by the rules and responsibilities of the competition, while others contend that winners should retain personal freedom and that international travel should not automatically lead to the loss of a crown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The pageant\u2019s organising body, INGO S.A., announced the immediate revocation of her title on May 18, 2026. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
The decision comes after Celeste allegedly violated her contract by travelling abroad without prior notification and subsequently ignoring repeated attempts by management to establish contact.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The organisers of the Miss Burundi pageant have stripped Mugisha Monica Celeste of her “Miss Popularity 2025” title, following reports that she abruptly left the country to seek political asylum in Europe<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000112510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[151],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000112506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-editors-choice","byline-wycliffe-nyamasege"],"bylines":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"contributors":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"featured_image":{"id":2000112510,"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/annonce_officielle_-_mugisha_monica-celeste_elue_miss_populaire_2025_vient_de_pren-fc095.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":567,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/annonce_officielle_-_mugisha_monica-celeste_elue_miss_populaire_2025_vient_de_pren-fc095.jpg","width":142,"height":150},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/annonce_officielle_-_mugisha_monica-celeste_elue_miss_populaire_2025_vient_de_pren-fc095.jpg","width":284,"height":300},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/annonce_officielle_-_mugisha_monica-celeste_elue_miss_populaire_2025_vient_de_pren-fc095.jpg","width":567,"height":600},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/annonce_officielle_-_mugisha_monica-celeste_elue_miss_populaire_2025_vient_de_pren-fc095.jpg","width":567,"height":600},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/annonce_officielle_-_mugisha_monica-celeste_elue_miss_populaire_2025_vient_de_pren-fc095.jpg","width":567,"height":600}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000112506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000112506"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000112506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000112513,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000112506\/revisions\/2000112513"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000112510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000112506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000112506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000112506"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000112506"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000112506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}