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Rumbidzai Ngwenya Features Writer
A Rusape man won cars . . . not one . . . not two . . . but THREE all in one day, in a lucky streak at the just ended 2018 OK Grand Challenge. This was the biggest win in years for Clemence Muhle, a physiotherapist at Rusape General Hospital.
It was not juju.

Muhle said he was sure that he was going to win given the number of entries he had made.
Punting is part of his life and this time he go the dividends.

“I got addicted to promotions in 2014 when I won five Huawei Smartphones in the Econet SMS and win promotions,” said an excited Muhle.

“I sold all the five smartphones and used the money to buy stocks for my small shops. From there, I never stopped.”
Winning is in his blood.

In 2014, when Metropeach & Browne Wholesalers opened its branch in Rusape with a promotion called Super Trader Promotion, he made numerous entries but failed to win the first prize — a Toyota Dyna 1.5 tonne truck.
This disappointed him so much.

Muhle was disappointed; so was his third born son who went home crying.
He felt strongly that he had to up his game in these competitions.
He never gave up.

In 2015, he tried his luck in the Metropeach & Browne Wholesalers promotion by entering more coupons.
He was lucky and he scooped the first prize — a bigger truck.
“By 2016, I became even more motivated to try other bigger and more lucrative competitions,” Muhle said.

“I had so much confidence. That year, I won again, the first prize for a second consecutive year.”
People could not believe it and rumours that he was using juju spread.

“To me it was simple mathematics, simple arithmetic and simple probability but to others all they saw in me was a man full of juju,” Muhle said.

“I am a Christian and God gives me the wisdom to win. I buy goods on promotion in bulk and earn more coupons and this increases my chances of winning, simple.”

In 2017, he cast the net wider to play the game in three branches, Rusape, Mutare and Murewa. Miraculously, he won in Mutare and Murehwa, bringing the number to four – vehicles he won at Metropeach.
In 2018, his wins were even bigger and better.
He won a whopping three cars in the OK Grand Challenge draw.

To him it’s not luck that has brought to seven the number of vehicles he has won in competitions, but he said it’s the ‘grace’ of God.
When asked what he does with all these cars, he said: “I simply sell and play again.”
Muhle was born at Charuma village under Chief Mutema in Chipinge.
He was raised in a family of 13 children.

The family was poor and struggled to make ends meet.
They couldn’t afford to buy basics of life. Life was hard for him and his family.
As a first born, his siblings all looked up to him.

His parents struggled to send him to school. Muhle sailed through his primary and secondary education under tough conditions.

He had to walk several kilometres to school everyday until he finished his primary and secondary education.
Apart from the distance that he had to walk to school, there was no proper food either to take to school or eat at home.
Muhle remembers how he would ‘roast’ left over sadza, usually made of sorghum and finger millet, wrap it in a plastic bag and pack it for school.

If it wasn’t for that he would take roasted maize, and life went on.
At home they relied on wild vegetables and on a good day, fish from the nearby Save River.
During school holidays Muhle and his siblings would herd cattle for richer families to earn money for stationery and clothing.
It is the kind of life Muhle never wants to remember, although it made him the man he is today.

Later, Muhle and his family moved to Nyazura and later to Masvingo.
He passed his O’ Levels at Dangamvura High school with flying colours.
From there he went to Sakubva No. 1 High School to do his A levels.

He got 12 points and later enrolled at the University of Zimbabwe’s College of Health Sciences where he studied for BSc Honours degree in Physiotherapy.
After he graduated, he was employed as a physiotherapist by the Ministry of Health and Child Care based at Rusape General Hospital.

He also runs a private physiotherapy clinic.
Muhle never lost hope.
He is big dreamer who wants to grab every opportunity that comes his way.

And, it seems, punting is his way of life. It’s not everyday that one can win this big.
But some guys have all the luck.