Twenty-five-year-old Rafieya Husain was on Saturday evening last crowned Miss Universe Guyana 2017 when the pageant was hosted at York College in the United States of America. This is the second shot at the title for Husain who copped the first runner-up spot in 2016, with Soyini Fraser winning the coveted title.
On Saturday last, Husain outshone 14 other delegates at the grand coronation that was witnessed by hundreds of patrons who flocked the venue. 
While one section of the crowd was pleased with the final results, another section thought that first runner-up, Sharisse Victor, should have been given the crown, hence leaving many unanswered questions.
One such question was the credibility of the pageant, since it is believed that the winner was selected way ahead of the grand coronation.
The second runner-up was Nalicia Ramdyal, is no stranger to pageantry. She competed in the Miss Global Guyana Pageant, where she created quite a stir after she did not win the competition.
However, the controversy all started following a post by Delroy Walcott who made his resignation as Administrative Assistance to the Miss Universe Guyana Committee public on Facebook, claiming that the rightful winner was Victor. This was his conclusion after he claimed that he saw the final scores.
Then, another member of the team, Tasha Dwhaj, also tendered her resignation after claiming that her reputation and character were attacked by franchise holder, Jyoti Hardat. She too felt that the decision was highly flawed. She was one of the volunteers. When contacted, Walcott explained that the matter was now in the hands of legal minds and he will not comment on the controversy, redirecting all questions to the Miss Universe Guyana organisation.
Walcott however, deleted the post on Facebook moments after he posted it, claiming he wanted to address the matter in a more civil manner.
On the other hand, with respect to Soyini Fraser not attending the pageant to hand over the crown, Hardat revealed that he 2016 queen parted ways with the organisation since February 2017, claiming that she will do nothing to promote the Miss Universe Guyana Pageant.
Fraser had accused the franchise holder of ill treatment. Things got worse after the 2016 queen refused to hand over the crown and the sash when she was asked to do so. This was not made public for several reasons, according to the franchise holder.
Meanwhile, apart from all the controversy, Husain remains confident that she will make Guyana proud at the international pageant billed for November in the United States. She has since called for the matter to be addressed amicable, while encouraging Guyanese to give her a chance to showcase the ‘Land of Many Waters’.
