| Last Updated: Monday, 8 September, 2003, 12:23 GMT 13:23 UK |
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Zambian wins African Big Brother | ||
Cherise Makubale was crowned winner on Sunday, picking up prize money of $100,000 (£63,000) Although the show, which has aired in 46 countries, has proved popular with viewers, politicians and religious leaders have been less keen. In Malawi it was pulled off air after it was deemed immoral, but its High Court overturned the ban. About 30 million viewers regularly tuned in to watch the 12 contestants from different African countries being whittled down to just one winner. Although there had been Big Brother shows in individual African countries, this was the first time they were combined. Scenes of celebration were reported in Zambia.
Motorists sounded their horns on the streets of the capital while others poured onto the streets singing. One newspaper quoted Vice President Nevers Mumba as saying the young woman had done the country proud. During the run, the UK's eventual winner Cameron Stout spent a week in the African house, which was based in Johannesburg, South Africa, while Gaetano Kagwa from Uganda joined the UK version.
Stout was back in South Africa to take part in the final live show and welcome out the winner. House-buying Ms Makubale, a procurement officer from the Zambian town of Kitwe, was overwhelmed to learn she been voted the winner.
"I'm still almost too excited to talk. The money means a great deal to me and my family and will help a lot in getting our lives together. So far we have had a hard life. "I want to go home now and discuss what to do with it with my family. "But the one thing that I'm definitely going to do is to buy my self-employed father, who works as an electrician, a house," she said. Mwisho Mwampamba, a 22-year-old man from Tanzania was the runner-up. The show did attract criticism from several African countries, with some calling it "immoral" and too explicit, including the much-hyped "shower hour". Namibian President Sam Nujoma called on the country's NBC channel to take broadcasts off the air, claiming it encouraged immorality. But the channel resisted calls for a ban. And in Zambia, a group of churches also demanded Big Brother be pulled from air, starting a petition urging the government to stop the broadcasts. | ||
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