Shamiso Yikoniko
On Tuesday, Zimbabwe’s hopes of landing another Big Brother cash prize were shattered after the country’s two representatives, Roki and Maneta, were disqualified for breaking one of the game’s cardinal rules.

In a scene resembling that of kindergarten children, Roki and Maneta splashed fluids on each other after having been warned on several occasions by Biggie to stop squabbling and feuding.
They both shamefully returned home last week after receiving treatment, Roki for his “bleached” eyes and Maneta for anger issues.
As Zimbabweans were last week united in denouncing the two for their deplorable behaviour, their expulsion once again brought to the fore the question of whether housemates have any national obligation and, if so, to what extent?

But while the anger by Zimbabweans at their own children is understandable, it is important to highlight the shortcomings of this season’s game as well.
For starters, having 35 housemates in the game was not a good idea and this was made worse by the new concept of pairing. The overcrowding made it difficult for viewers to keep track of all participants — hence rendering the game a damp squib.
If the increase in the number of housemates has been meant to increase ratings, it has to be admitted that that has failed.

M-Net and Endemol should have stuck to the old rule — of one candidate per country — and that would have helped viewers to follow the different housemates with much more ease.
As it stands, with Downville and Upville, most viewers are finding it difficult to keep pace with the two houses, it is like running two Big Brother shows at once.

When BBA started seven seasons ago, the thinking was that the game was mainly about cultural interaction, exchanging cultural values, but that aspect is seriously lacking this season.

At the expense of cultural interaction, there is a rather alarming commercial slant. For instance, what did Africa and the rest of the housemates benefit culturally from Tanzanian duo of Julio and Hilda, who were evicted in their first week in the house?
And for Sierra Leone and Liberia, who were making debut appearances at the show, the countries’ citizens should have felt bitter about the show as their housemates faced early evictions.

The other issue which begs an answer is that of background checks. Does M-Net and series producers Endemol really do proper background checks of the characters they bring into the house as they claim?
For instance, the Nigerian duo of Ola and Chris had to be sent back home because of illness, with one of them, Ola, fearing for his life because he was suffering from

hypertension. If his medical history had been established, he would not have entered the house in the first instance.

As well, how did Ghanaian DKB, whose track record of gender-based violence is well documented, end up in the house? DKB was expelled from the house a few weeks ago together with Zainab (Sierra Leone) after giving her two strong open palm slaps to the face.

As for Roki, whose ex-wife Pauline Gundidza he once bashed in broad daylight at a crowded Eastgate shopping mall in the city centre and is known to be emotionally unstable — one wonders how he ended up in such a confined place, full of strangers. Endemol needs to carry out thorough background checks of the selected housemates if the reality show is to remain relevant and interesting.

Surely since the BBA participants are purported to represent their countries, culturally, shouldn’t the countries have a say in whom they would prefer to be their ambassador in the house?

This is because. as it stands, what does Africa and the whole world that watched Roki and Maneta’s weeks of bickering, shallow-mindedness and irritability think of Zimbabwe?
But then given that it is a game show, should what happened between Maneta and Roki be termed “violence”? In explaining the expulsion of the Zimbabwean pair, M-Net said this season saw the “anti-violence” rule expanded to include any housemate whose provocative behaviour contributed substantially to creating a  hostile and aggressive environment in which violence was the result.

The other thing that took the sting out of the game was that of participants coming in pairs, which resulted in some housemates being forced to leave the house because their partner chose to quit.

The idea of pairing has proven to be burdening as the Zambian pair of Talia and Tamara is always arguing about going-and-staying. As much as Talia wants out of the house, Tamara knows that would mean the end of the show for her, as they would be asked to leave as a pair.
Others, for example, who were left behind after a partner was evicted, found the going tough or simply failed to adjust.

The fight between Roki and Maneta was a storm brewing for a long time and it was just like a volcano waiting to erupt, and, in Roki’s case, exploded at the wrong time. The controversial urban groover, who was an outright favourite, blew his chances of clinching the grand prize as was feared by his fans back home.
Roki had been among those expected to go far if not all the way as he brought to the table his unique perspective on life, which was a hit in and out the house.

Add to that, his somewhat unpredictable nature and sense of humour, and you have a winner. On the other hand, Maneta, the self-opinionated and somewhat controversial character, kept the viewers on the edge of their seats, as almost everything that came out of her mouth was a debate starter.

Her volatile nature and views on life, however, mostly alienated her from a section of the viewers, particularly her fellow countrymen and women. The bigger issue, however, is not on the evictions and scandals of this season’s damp squib but on the reality show’s weaknesses, which appear to have been magnified this season.