Zimbabwe's ugliest man crowned

ZIMBABWE'S most ugly man was crowned here on Saturday night at Pagomo Heights Leisure Centre in a fun-filled occasion attended by hundreds of people, some of them from as far as Bulawayo and Harare.

The venue was filled to the brim with long winding queues of cars along the road to Pagomo Heights.

Harare-based dance group Girls La Musica added colour to the event.

Bulawayo-based Austin Mbewe (30) was crowned this year's winner of the contest after beating eight other hopefuls for the tightly contested Mr Ugly.

Initially, a total of 15 ugly men were expected to outclass each other on the ramp but six developed cold feet at the eleventh hour.

The show was held for the third time running after the previous two shows were successful in drawing an average of 30 men who volunteered to outclass each other to be crowned Zimbabwe's ugliest man.

The pageant had the blessings of the National Arts Council and the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority and the judges were women.

Beitbridge-based Kudakwashe Chiramba (45) was crowned first runner-up while Chitova Chezhira (39) of Masvingo was the second runner-up.

For the first time since its inception, the pageant had two Mr Ugly Personalities in the form of Thomas Magwegwe and Touchmore Denyathi both of Beitbridge.

Mbewe was undoubtedly the deserving winner as he moved the crowd from the onset when he took to the ramp.

He shrugged off a challenge from Chitova and Chiramba, but at the end of the day everyone agreed he was the right man for the Mr Ugly throne.

For his efforts, Mbewe went away with a blanket and R1 200 cash, the first and second runners-up received R600 and R500 along with a blanket apiece.

The two Mr Ugly Personalities walked away with a blanket each and cash prizes of R250.

The other finalists received a blanket each as consolation.

In an interview, Mbewe said: "I feel greatly honoured by this victory, I have been a subject of ridicule from society since childhood and the world has seen that there is a beautiful side to my ugliness.

"I am very confident with my natural looks and confident about it. It was a tight contest but at the end of the day my hard work was rewarded."

Show organiser, Lovemore Chonzi of Aerowise Entertainment, said the pageant was growing bigger every year.

"We had lots of prizes and the attendance was very good. We are looking forward to building on the success of this year's edition," he said.

He said they had successfully held road-shows to lure contestants from all parts of Beitbridge district and across the country.

They had cast their net wider with contestants from as far as Bulawayo, Mbalabala, Masvingo, Kwekwe, Tshaswingo and Zaka participating.

"Basically the competition is meant for people to have fun and celebrate who they are just like any other contests in the world.

"We held another contest this year banking on the success of the last two editions and we are working towards making the contest a national event.

"This time around we had four categories that is casual, smart casual, safari and sports."

Last year's winner, popularly known as VaChiganda in the border town, walked away with R1 500, while the first prince got R1 200 and the second prince received R1 000 cash.

Mr Ugly Pageant chairperson, Dominic Gwatirisa said they were still working towards making the pageant truly national.