HARARE The recent award of $300 000 to Big Brother finalist, Munyaradzi Chidzonga, 24, has been criticised as a propaganda opportunity for Zanu (PF). A group of president Robert Mugabe’s rich allies said voting was not “free and fair” in Big Brother Africa – and paid Zimbabwe’s losing housemate 191,000 in compensation ($300,000).
Mugabe’s nephew, business tycoon Philip Chiyangwa, said the mobile phone voting system in the TV reality show was “unfair”.
“The whole process was flawed. The entire vote was flawed,” Mr Chiyangwa fumed.
The president’s allies have found the row over the winner a perfect propaganda opportunity for his Zanu (PF) party. 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.
The money will help the Zimbabwean housemate “get over the trauma” of losing, the state-owned 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 Mugabe.
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