BIG Brother star Munyaradzi Chidzonga has set his eyes on a career in politics, telling the BBC: “If the President invited me, I would feel much obliged.”
Munya, 24, met President Robert Mugabe on October 20 after narrowly losing out on the US$200,000 top prize in the Big Brother All Stars TV show held in South Africa and beamed across Africa.
Asked by the BBC’s Brian Hungwe if he would do political work for Mugabe if asked, Munya replied: “If President Mugabe invited you into politics would you say no?
“He’s a great man, yes he has had his ups and downs, but if he invited me I would feel much obliged. I would be much obliged. I think that anything the President asks me to do, I will do.”
Munya expressed a wish to meet Mugabe on the M-Net show, and got to meet his 86-year-old hero as soon as he arrived back in Zimbabwe.
Mugabe handed him a cheque for US$300,000 – which trumps the US$200,000 won by Nigeria’s Uti Nwachukwu on the show. The money was raised by local businessmen, including the flamboyant Phillip Chiyangwa and Zanu PF official, David Chapfika.
The President told Munya: "I didn't think you would survive because you looked so young, perhaps the youngest of them all.
"It was Nigeria versus Zimbabwe and Nigeria is a very big country, so you deferred to Nigeria. But both of you won and from our point of view, for us, you were the winner."
Talking of his meeting with Mugabe, Munya said: “One thing I admire the most about him honestly is his sense of humour, I mean he’s just a man at the end of the day.
“It’s his sense of humour and intellect, that’s something that I have never met in another man.”
Munya, who dubbed himself a ‘Diamond Boy’ on Big Brother after surviving one of nine nominations in 15 weeks, confirmed a view held by most of his fans that he had been cheated.
He told the BBC: “I’m a diamond boy, I will shine whether I’m in the darkest of darkest areas, even if they rob me of everything, I’m still a diamond boy.
“I was a diamond boy when I walked into the [Big Brother] house, and I was a diamond boy when I walked out without the US$200,000 … people still believed in me.”
Political analyst Takura Zhangazha said Munya’s backing for Mugabe presented Zanu PF with an opportunity to reach out to young voters.
“I think Zanu PF intends to milk Munya’s statements that he supports President Robert Mugabe. For what it’s worth, it’s in the context of an electoral campaign process, whether elections are held next year or any other time, they want to definitely reach out to a young generation of Zimbabweans that are mainly middle class or upper middle class and get them on their side.”