In addition to Thailand, Zimbabwe is one of the few countries that separately held its Miss Grand national contest to select the representative for Miss Grand International in 2013. This inaugural edition of Miss Grand Zimbabwe was organized at the Gardens Restaurant in the city of
Bulawayo under the directorship of former
Miss Zimbabwe 2010, Samantha Tshuma, and a 22-years-old model representing
Bulawayo, Fungai Mawada, was announced the winner at a contest held on July 13, outclassing 15 other finalists. Nevertheless, Mawada was later disqualified on September 2 by the director Samantha Tshuma, who nominated herself as the country representative at such an international contest and additionally stated that all 16 participating models were not suitable for the international competition, The following year, the Miss Grand Zimbabwe organization was also embroiled in a similar scandal when the new franchise holder,
Chris Vukani Mhlanga, who was the partner of a former 2013 national licensee, unveiled a new country representative,
Lillie Chopamba, to replace
Marble Nyathi, one of the finalists who had been nominated from
Bulawayo to represent the country at the
Miss Grand International 2014 in
Bangkok. Mhlanga claimed Nyathi's body was not good enough for the international pageant; however, Nyathi argued that she was removed because she refused Mhlanga's
love proposal as well as some financial issues between her and the organizer. Zimbabwe was then absent from the Miss Grand International from 2015 to 2024, although there was the other national pageant with a similar name, Miss Zimbabwe Grand, has been held annually since 2019 to determine the winners for several international platforms, but has no affiliation with Miss Grand International. After a 10-year hiatus, Zimbabwe is expected to make a return in 2025 under the directorship of Ntombi Gumede and her daughter, Tumi Jiane. ==Editions==