The day of reckoning

DENNIS D. MUHUMUZA

After 14 gruelling but highly exciting Sundays, that day of reckoning has come; tomorrow night is that day – the grand finale of the fourth edition of the Zain Africa Challenge!

Ecclesiastes tells us there is a time for everything, and this has been a season for Kenya to shine; knocked down and out opponent after opponent, ending up with three teams in the quarterfinals and making the finals an all-Kenyan affair.

The mighty Egerton University which won the inaugural Zain Scholars Trophy in 2007 and successfully defended it in 2008 will be locking horns with first-timers –the suave Africa Nazarene University. It’ll be a night to witness pedigree versus flair, experience versus inexperience and women against men!

Egerton's Phillip Chwanya, George Ralak and Ralph Obure have told show host John Sibi-Okumu and reiterated their ambition to accomplish the mission of recouping the cup and affirm that they are no flukes and that the first two times they won it were not accidental. So they will enter the ring purposely to seal their reputation as Africa’s undisputed brain superpower!

But the adorable Nazarenes don’t want to know; they are focused on making history as the first team in the history of the tournament to have two girls on the team going for gold in a contest that has for three years been a domain of men. The visualisation of Jane Ndung’u with her rare but alluring smile and unrivalled composure lifting up the prestigious trophy and her little hands counting the $5,000 dollars while the cameras flash with fervour is what her innumerable male fans are looking forward to witnessing.

The show’s Facebook page is vibrating with comments that reveal that anticipation has reached seismic proportions. The situation is not helped by the fact that either team knows its game and wants the victory badly.

I’m tempted to rate Egerton a notch stronger considering that they overshadowed Jomo Kenyatta University last Sunday with 775 points against the latter’s 540 thereby cruising into the finals five points ahead of what Nazarene trounced Makerere with a week before.

But then Nazarene has been captivating way of playing and even overcame Mak, one of the best teams in the academic quiz when Egerton has been facing-off with what can arguably be classified as weak opponents. So it's very hard to predict a contest like this but I have my money on Nazarene.

As it is, there’ll be two shows; the grand final will this time around will be televised at 6:30 p.m., and 8:30p.m. will be left for the wrap-up, showcasing the hilarious and dramatic moments that have characterised this year’s inter-university battle of the brains. Catch it all on NTV

--Saturday Monitor, June 5, 2010