THE unique and highly-publicised Mr Ugly pageant could falter due to lack of corporate support, event co-ordinator David “Apama” Machowa has said.
Report by Tinashe Sibanda
Machowa said the future of the pageant was bleak despite plans to make it a national event.
Mr Ugly started in Beitbridge in 2009 as a social event and was brought to Harare in 2010 and 2011. In 2012 organisers pledged to make it a national event, but despite the popularity of the pageant, lack of sponsorship threatens its survival.
Sponsored by City Sports Bar owner Biggie Chinoperekwei, the event became popular last year when William Masvinu won the Mr Ugly Harare pageant.
The pageant was then taken to Mutare in August and after a successful show, organisers promised a national event at the end of last year that never saw the light of day. “We had decided to make a trial national event last year and I must admit things didn’t turn out as expected,” said Machowa.
“We did not have enough resources and the other major obstacle was that we had paid South African singer Freddy Gwala to perform, but he couldn’t come because he was in trouble with the law for having a show earlier in Bulawayo without a permit, so we just decided to call it off.”
He said the organisers found it better to call off the show than make fans pay to watch a half-baked event.
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Machowa added that Masvinu had been awarded $100, a meagre amount compared to other pageants, because their funding was very low.
However, Apama is optimistic that their recent partnership with Goly Bakeries could help in bringing back the event.
“We are planning to have regional pageants in Harare, Bulawayo and Mutare with the aim of hosting a national event in October,” he said.
