Controversial sungura artiste Hosiah Chipanga says he
regrets releasing the song Gushungo as it failed to open the doors for him to
meet President Robert Mugabe.
In the song released in 2006, Chipanga absolved Mugabe of
graft and instead blamed the rot afflicting the country on his Cabinet.
The Mutare-based musician’s song drew the ire of some
ordinary Zimbabweans who argued that Mugabe was equally blameworthy. 11 years
later, Chipanga now concedes that the song was a lost cause.
“I released the song as part of a strategy to get an
opportunity to meet the president. I had hoped that the song would make the
people around him allow me to meet the president so that I could give him clues
on good governance,” the Kwachu Kwachu singer said, adding:
“Sadly, my strategy did not work. I thought he would invite
me to his office after listening to the song but that never happened.
“Instead, I was attacked repeatedly by some people who
thought I should not have sung the song in the first place…what these people
didn’t realise was the fact that I got nothing from Mugabe…not even chipeneti
chaicho,” said the Mutare- based artiste.
Though the Gushungo singer failed to facilitate a meeting
with Mugabe, Chipanga has not given up.
“God wants me to meet Mugabe, so one way or the other I
will meet him. The day I will meet him is the day he will retire from the
presidency.
“All the succession wars in Zanu PF are sheer waste of
time,” Chipanga sensationally claimed.
He added the nature of his agenda, which he claims was
mandated by God, has made some people to question his sanity.
“I am not mad but I am a man on a very big mission. I
received a special message for this country on September 13, 1977 from God and
I will go out of my way to deliver it to the president,” he told the Daily
News.
Chipanga said he initially never wanted to dabble in
politics.
“I started singing in the 1970s but my songs were banned by
the Rhodesian government.
“As a musician I have a duty to deliver messages to the
intended audience in their original form without any apology.
“I never wanted to be a politician but I was forced to be
one because my meeting with Mugabe was being continually blocked by those
surrounding him.
“That is why I ended up forming a political party called
The Kingdom of God On Earth: Devine Rule On Earth because politics is the only
language our president understand and not music or gospel.
“Hear it from me I have tried to use music and gospel
before and it hasn’t worked,” he said.
Chipanga said he was currently in the process of remixing
his old hits from the 1970s to 1980s to demonstrate the consistency of his
message.
“I am in the process of collecting old songs that criticise
the governance system.
“Some of the songs are still relevant to the current
political and economic situation despite the fact that they were released way
back,” he said, adding that the first remix will be released next month.
It will be a remix of the single Gumi Remitemo (Ten
Commandments).
He said he will continue releasing music even though his
latest album has been unofficially banned by local radio stations. Titled
Gamba, the politically-charged album is dedicated to the late liberation war
hero Solomon Mujuru.
All the four songs — Gamba, KwaMarange, Vendor and Baba
Abram boldly tackle challenges Zimbabwe is grappling with.
On the title track, Chipanga questions how Mujuru could be
killed by a mysterious fire at his Beatrice farm in 2011 yet he had survived
helicopter gunships, landmines and grenades during the liberation war.
KwaMarange attacks the State for mismanaging Marange
diamonds and claims that people living near the diamond fields are poorer than
they were before the diamonds were discovered.
On Vendor the controversial wordsmith says Zimbabwe has
been reduced to a nation of vendors while the police have abandoned their
constitutional duty of fighting crime and are now focussing on “fundraising”
efforts. Daily news
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