After a successful welcome home gig at the Glamis Arena
last year, Chimurenga guru Thomas Mapfumo found the reception irresistible and
made a decision to take part in more gigs.
The celebrated musician joined with local promoters on a
nationwide Peace Tour, where he was billed to perform in almost every town.
However, the tour was marred by irregularities, poor
attendances and deceptions from his management team, which made it a massive
flop.
Some of the shows, for example in Kariba, were cancelled at
the last minute. However, Mukanya did not hold a show in Marondera or
Mashonaland East Province with The Standard reliably confirming that the
dreadlocked legend demanded an unimaginable flat fee from The Legends Sports
Diner proprietor and Daniel Masaiti.
According to one of the Legends Sports Diner management
team, one of Mapfumo’s personnel, identified as Mhandu, called Masaiti and
demanded a flat fee of $8 500 bond and $1 500 for the PA system as well as
posters.
“They demanded an $8 500 flat fee and on top of that they
said they wanted an extra $1 500 to hire a PA system from [Emmanuel] Makandiwa’s
church, according to Mhandu. This meant that the proprietor was supposed to get
money through gate-takings as well as beer sales. At full capacity, the venue
carries around 1 000 people and there was no way more than 300 people were
going to attend, meaning it was a guaranteed loss to us,” said the official.
Most of Mapfumo’s shows across the country did not yield
the much-desired results as they were marred by poor attendances and technical
glitches, among other things.
Masaiti confirmed the differences over Mukanya’s show that
was supposed to be held on either December 25 or 26.
“I confirm that one of the members from Mukanya’s team
contacted me concerning a gig that could have been held in December. It failed
to materialise since all the expenses including a flat fee were amounting to
around $12 000. Mukanya is free to approach us for a gig, but with favourable
conditions that benefit both parties,” he said.
Mapfumo recently revealed that he was duped by his
management team, he has since cut ties with them.
The legendary musician is still in the country holding
shows with some of them being farewell gigs that have gone on for weeks before
he returns to the United States.. Standard
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