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Samuel Kadungure
Senior Reporter
THE mentality of a winner will mean different things to all, but there is one common trait — an indomitable attitude that prevails over everything that stands in their way.
This aptly depicts Rusape physiotherapist — Mr Clemence Muhle — whose unprecedented display of good luck and skill has secured his family their 11th vehicle at the annual OK Grand Challenge Jackpot Promotion held at Borrowdale Park in Harare last week on Saturday.
The unusual winning streak, dating back to 2001, has split opinion, with those familiar with the guy calling him a ‘smart gambler’, while the superstitious ones believe he uses lucky charms to attract good luck.
However, for him, winning is the only thing! What matters is winning, not how he wins.
His level of gaming is phenomenal such that losing is unacceptable.
While the nation is in awe, winning the 11th car — and not the grand prize which went to Ms Virginia Dende of Kadoma, was in fact an under achievement for the man who had his eyes on the top accolade.
He is yet to win the grand prize, and until then, he will not tire.
“Oh yes indeed, that was my target, and I had invested all my faith on winning that grand prize, but just like in any competitions out there, there is a winner and a loser.
“In this one I could not make it. It is not my time yet in the realms of the spirit. With God, there is a predestined perfect will. So in as much as my wish was to grab the grand prize, God said it is not my time yet. I still have faith that in the fullness of time, the grand prize will park at my carport in Rusape,” said Mr Muhle, who did not attend this year’s event at Borrowdale Park.
So what made him skip the event and at the same time expect to land the grand prize for which the winner had to be there?
“I really wanted to be at Borrowdale Park, but my sixth sense told me not to attend because there was a possibility of upsetting many other competitors who have tried to win in the competition but the grace of God could not locate them.
“My presence could have potentially caused commotion. Even though I missed my target, I felt jubilant,” said Mr Muhle who took his family for dinner to celebrate his new vehicle.
“There is a famous phrase which says ‘strike the iron while it’s hot’, so soon after the triumph, I took my family out for dinner and we had a superb meal,” he said.
Mr Muhle is an astute disciple of the law of large numbers.
He believes in regular patterns to beat the odds, and using this principle, together with his family, they have been heavily involved in wholesale and supermarket promotions and competitions over the years.
He says his trick in winning the promotions is purchasing as many products as possible in order to increase chances of winning.
So how many entries or points did he have this year and how much did he spend?
“It was a product line with mechanics of buy three, get one entry, so mathematically I spent US$543 on the product with a cost of approximately US$1 each.
“This year’s competition was tougher than other years in two ways. First, there were so many players this time around with a record of 12,1 million participating entries. Second, the prices of the commodities kept souring due to the unstable exchange rates. This made it even more difficult to plan.
“The record number of entries shows that the competition is gaining ground with more people emulating me and some even working on challenging my strategies. I thank the Lord that amid all the challenges, grace continues to locate me and I am still the talk of the nation because of the otherwise “unusual” winning streak.
“But one thing I like is that God’s operations make the impossible possible. “Zvikasashamisa haasi Mwari,” he said.
Mr Muhle refused to be dubbed a gambler.
“I prefer using the term gaming, instead of gambling. I think by God’s grace the day I get the big one, I may hang my boots. I remember that in 2018 I projected to reach a target of 20 cars from such competitions, now I am on the 11th and still have nine cars to go. Let me emphasise that this is not humanly possible, but with God, nothing is impossible.
“Let me set the record straight, I don’t use muti. To me, it is absolute hogwash. I am a child of God and a believer of the Gospel of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. I do not believe in muthi or mbinjiri as people put it.
“Let those who believe in juju or dark alters do so at their own peril. Let me, through this platform, encourage the preachers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to teach their congregants that their unbelief must not see them creating other gods through the of use juju. This is God’s Commandment Number 1.
“It can’t be changed if God’s plan is that Clemence Muhle must win cars at OK Grand Challenge competitions. That will be that nomatter the outcries,” he said.
The Muhle family first gave it a try in an Econet competition in 2001 and realised that it is possible to win.
They then entered the Metro Peech competition and lost.
After learning one or two things from that loss, they corrected their mistakes and won a 1.5-tonne truck in the same competition the following year.
In 2015, they bagged a double from the same wholesaler — winning the 1.5-tonne trucks at the wholesalers’ Rusape and Mutare branches.
In 2016, they won another 1.5-tonne truck from Metro Peech Murehwa before winning both the first and second prices ($10 000 and $5 000).
They also won all the gadgets on offer at all the five TM Pick and Pay supermarkets in Manicaland in 2017.
In 2018, the family won three cars in the OK Grand Challenge and an assortment of prices at Panmart Supermarket.
In 2019, they won $50 000 in the OK Grand Challenge.
Only their youngest son, who is eagerly anticipating his turn as he approaches his third birthday, has not won yet.
With a staggering 12.1 million entries, the 34th edition of the OK Grand Challenge Jackpot promotion saw a total of 40 cars being awarded to fortunate shoppers from all over the country.
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