Pageant has divided opinion in Zimbabwe with some sections of society calling on organisers to end it
What you need to know:
- Two Zimbabwean men fighting over who should be declared the ugliest in a country of 13 million people after an unusual pageant on November 21.
- After winning Zimbabwe’s Mr Ugly contest for three consecutive years from 2011, William Masvinu never believed there was any local man capable of wrestling the title from him.
- Mr Masvinu was upstaged by Mr Maison Sere much to the chagrin of the perennial winner who says he was robbed by the judges for the 2015 prize.
- The organisers were quick to dismiss Mr Masvinu, claiming the pageant was free and fair.
HARARE, Monday
The global media trained its focus on Zimbabwe again recently, but this time, the coverage had nothing to do with the country’s well documented economic and political crisis.
It was a story of two men fighting over who should be declared the ugliest in a country of 13 million people after an unusual pageant on November 21.
After winning Zimbabwe’s Mr Ugly contest for three consecutive years from 2011, William Masvinu never believed there was any local man capable of wrestling the title from him.
PERENNIAL WINNER
Judges of the controversial pageant that continues to hog the limelight in the global media say Mr Masvinu was so confident at the latest contest held in Harare, he never made any effort on the ramp to win them over.
As a result Mr Masvinu was upstaged by Mr Maison Sere much to the chagrin of the perennial winner who says he was robbed by the judges for the 2015 prize.
“I have been robbed and everyone is aware of that,” complained Mr Masvinu in a video he shared on social media soon after his unexpected defeat. The recording has since gone viral.
“I am the ugliest man on the land, if you look at him (Sere) can you say he is ugly?
“Having no teeth does not mean one is ugly,” he added referring to the Mr Ugly pageant winner.
The organisers were quick to dismiss Mr Masvinu, claiming the pageant was free and fair.
NEVER EXCELLED
“As the event organiser and founder, I indicated clearly to the contestants the categories and the outgoing Mr Ugly never excelled as he would just go on stage and stand with confidence as if he is already the winner,” Mr David Machowa, the founder of the pageant told local media.
“The judges wanted to see how ugly you are from all angles, when you smile, when you are normal and when you make your ugliest face, which he did not do.”
He said on the other hand Sere, the winner, worked according to regulations.
“When others smiled, Masvinu did not and when others came in with their ugliest faces, he did not,” Mr Machowa told The Herald.
The judges said they evaluated the contestants based on ‘overall appearance and style’. Organisers said this year’s pageant was so popular it attracted 36 men, forcing them to hold a preliminary competition.
The contestants were trimmed to 12 finalists who were vying for the $500 (Ksh51,000) prize. Mr Ugly pageant was founded in 2011 and Brian Mateyazondo was the inaugural winner before Mr Masvinu made the title his own the following year.
PAGEANT CANCELLED
The pageant was cancelled last year due to lack of sponsorship, but made a comeback this year with support from the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority. Mr Sere, who was placed fourth at the last pageant, received $500 for coming out tops this time around while Mr Masvinu was given $100 for his efforts.
However, the contest has divided opinion in Zimbabwe with some sections of society calling on the organisers to end it, arguing it demeaned participants who were mostly poor men.
When he first won the contest, Mr Masvinu was a porter who operated from one of Harare’s busiest bus ranks, a job he still holds today.
He still stays in one of the capital’s poorest neighbourhoods of Epworth. One of the country’s leading daily newspapers, NewsDay, wrote an editorial calling on the organisers to stop the pageant for the good of the country.
“As advocates of free speech and association, we cannot call for the banning of the pageant, but we believe there is a fair case for the organisers to can it, for the greater good of the country,” the paper wrote in its editorial.
PARTICIPANTS POOR
The paper argued that the fact that most of the participants were poor showed that Zimbabweans had been made desperate by the economic situation to an extent that they could do anything for money. “To add insult to injury, the pageant mainly attracts poor people, who are so desperate for money that they are willing to do anything they can just to earn a few dollars,” NewsDay said.
“It is an indictment on the country’s economic policies that poverty has dehumanised people so much they are willing to be the butt of such a disparaging pageant.
“The publicity it generates is not complimentary for the country and it ensures we continue to be the laughing stock. Pageants are by their nature supposed to be a rich and spectacular affair, but all these attributes are missing from Mr Ugly, which is derogatory and insulting for both the participants and the country at large,” the paper added.
BROUGHT HUMOUR
But judging from reactions to the editorial on the paper’s online media platforms, some NewsDay readers did not agree with the assertion and want the pageant preserved because they believed it was innovative.
“The Mr Ugly contest has brought humour and suspense in entertainment circles as no one ever thought being ugly would bring bread and butter on the tables of suffering Zimbabweans,” wrote one of the readers, only identified as Chris.
“There is also beauty in ugliness that’s why his (Masvinu’s) wife joined the call to have her husband crowned the champion.