Menaye Donkor, winner of Miss Universe Ghana 2004 and CEO of MALZ Promotions, now owns the Miss Universe Ghana franchise.

She revealed at the launch of the 2017 edition of the pageant that she is now the Director of the beauty contest.

Speaking at the launch at Carbon Night Club, Airport City, Thursday night, Menaye Donkor said “Miss Universe has opened a lot of doors for me,” and the pageant has made her who she is now.

Manaye, who is the wife of footballer Sulley Muntari, said “having this licence as the new Director for Miss Universe Ghana 2017 is such an amazing feeling... I was once a title holder representing Ghana internationally and I feel that it is my objective to assist the next title holder to make Ghana proud [and] represent Ghana internationally at the Miss Universe level.” 

She is now faced with the difficult task of redeeming the image of the Miss Universe brand which has over the years been faced with a lot of controversies.

The pageant has been hit with court cases, sex scandals and bribery allegations and organisers' inability to award prizes to winners.

This year's pageant, she revealed, is scheduled for September 2.

Some of the personalities at the launch included Sulley Muntari, Bola Ray, Benny Blanco and Deborah Vanessa (Sister Derby).