[size=14pt]Zimbabwean big brother finalist to get $300,000 from Mugabe[/size]
October 21, 2010 01:11AM



A group of president Robert Mugabe's rich allies say voting was not "free and fair" in Big Brother Africa - and have promised to pay Zimbabwe's losing housemate £191,000 in compensation ($300,000).


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Big Brother All Stars Munya shows the World his baby



Mr Mugabe's nephew, business tycoon Philip Chiyangwa, said the mobile phone voting system in the TV reality show was "unfair".

The Zimbabwean contestant, Munyaradzi Chidzonga, 24, was tipped to win the 91-day show but narrowly lost to a Nigerian housemate in the final vote on Sunday. He would have got £127,000 if he had won.

"The whole process was flawed. The entire vote was flawed," Mr Chiyangwa fumed, calling the show "a disgrace to Africa". Officials from MNET Africa, the continent-wide satellite TV company, said yesterday Mr Mugabe's office had demanded recordings from the show.

The president's allies have found the row over the winner a perfect propaganda opportunity for his Zanu-PF party. Mr Chidzonga's "patriotism" is being contrasted with Scottish-based Zimbabwean singer Gamu Nhengu, who was controversially eliminated from ITV's X Factor just before her UK visa ran out and has been critical of the Mugabe regime.

State media yesterday accused her of ‘peddling falsehoods about Zimbabwe,' a charge that carries a jail penalty under current laws.

Flawed and cooked

In contrast, Zimbabwe's Big Brother Africa housemate maintains that his ambition is to meet Mr Mugabe. He often appeared in the show draped in the national flag.

Mr Mugabe's nephew - a former Zanu-PF MP - has already promised Mr Chidzonga a house from his Pinnacle Holdings property company and says that if more than £191,000 is raised, "we will give it to him".

"The results were flawed and were cooked up because indications from the previous week showed Munya (radzi) was way ahead until they decided to rob him of his victory," Mr Chiyangwa complained.

The money will help the Zimbabwean housemate "get over the trauma" of losing, the Herald said. But the sheer amount of it will be unimaginable to many locals struggling to survive in an economy wrecked by three decades of misrule under Mr Mugabe, now 86.

Despite gains made under a shaky 19-month old coalition deal between the president and former opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, two million Zimbabweans - a sixth of the population - still do not have access to clean water, Unicef said last week. A million children have been orphaned by Aids.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/ArtsandCulture/x2/Entertainment/5632870-146/zimbabwean_big_brother_finalist_to_get.csp

So he received more than the real winner. Is Zimbabweans so jobless and hopeless that the  Big Brother's show is such a big deal to the point of presidential intervention?. Don't they have more important issues to deal with?

@ Post,
I was dumbfounded when I heard the news over the radio.
This is the height of irresponsibility linked (directly/indirectly) to any Government in power.
If they decide to compensate him, they should do that in the secrecy of their dirty chambers other than the show of poor wealth.
Many are wallowing in abject poverty with an astronomical inflation ridden economy and all the rich allies can do is to express concern about Big Brother. Pschewwww
It is good to appreciate a good patriotic citizen but it is childish and immature to brag about it. I believe a bulk of the ZWs do have inferiority complex.
Make them no vex naija big bois ooo. Because na for Lagos ere we go decorate Uti with 1m dollars. w no need go Abj.

some nigerians are here gossiping about GEJ sending a congratulatory message to our winner while their own president is there dashing $300M to their own looser.

na wah ohh

lol. In the long run "Munya is richer than Uti"

Yea richer than Uti at the expense of poor Zimbabweans.

Its their luck.

Mobinga:

Its their luck.

It's not luck but sheer stupidity.

I have never seen a more irresponsible govy in my life.This is the height of irresponsibility and stupidity, Are there not orphanage homes in Zimbabwe to donate N45m to?

Jobless people.

I think Munya was robbed of his Victiory

Uti did NOT deserve to win the moment i heard his name i Switched off my TV

I think that Next time they should not put out people's countrys they should simplye reveal them in the end, it is the population of 9Ja that mase Uti win

...and nine years later the comments in this forum did not change.
There are only more users posting similar views.