The Sunday Mail
Andrew Moyo —
AFTER months of publishing the cutest babies, counting the votes and a rigorous process of verifying the results — here are the winners of The Sunday Mail Baby of the Year competition.
With the number of winners being dropped to two per category in the new format, eight lucky babies managed to put smiles on their parents’ faces after scooping the coveted prizes in the four categories.
Readers of The Sunday Mail started voting for their favourite babies since the publication of the finalists in October, with the votes being counted last week.
The winning babies who came first were awarded US$350 cash prizes while the runners-up received US$250 each among other prizes that included shopping vouchers and glass trophies.
In the 0 – 12 month old boys category, Nate Nyatara was the winner with Shayne Mangondolo being the runner up while the girls’ category in this age group saw Michelle Mutingwende winning and Brianna Tsomondo being the runner up.
The two babies who came first in this age group will be the faces of the Jet Baby brand for 2017 whereby they will be featured on Jet Baby adverts. Andile Chakubva came first in the 13 – 24 boys category with Leeroy Mudzamiri being the runner-up while Nani Gambiza led the pack in the girl’s category as Kylie Makore came second.
This year’s competition was a huge success, with over 10 000 votes being cast. Zimpapers business manager — marketing Mrs Charity Gwata-Chirume said the competition has been growing every year and they were happy with the response from parents and voters.
“The response this year has been overwhelming with people voting in large numbers, which shows that more and more people are coming in to support the competition every year,” said Gwata-Chirume.
“Interest in the competition has been growing every year as more parents are participating and the hype has also led to more people also wanting to vote.”
She said their partnership with Jet Stores has benefited the competition, contributing to its growth.
“Before Jet came on board we had minimal reach because we were only using Zimpapers offices for submission of registration forms and voting slips. Right now more people are able to take part because we are now using Jet outlets dotted around the country.”
Jet Brand Manager Ndumiso Moyo said they were supporting the competition as a way of thanking their customers and the community at large.
“We decided to take part in this competition as our own way of giving back to our customers who have been supporting us,” he said.
Jet Stores, with their “I am a Jet Baby” clothing range has become the go-to shop for parents seeking to purchase clothing and other merchandise for their little ones. It is no surprise they decided to partner the biggest weekly newspaper in the country in a competition that has a big influence on cementing strong family relations and values.
