The Sunday Mail
Prince Mushawevato
THE proclivity to self-destruct just when things seem to be set on the right course is a hallmark of the Somanje musical clan.
The late Daiton and his brother Josphat parted ways when their Pengaudzoke machine was running well.
Daiton and Josphat fell out after their chart-topping “Tsaona” made them mega stars. Nasty words were oft exchanged and Daiton at one point declared he “was never going to set foot at Josphat’s funeral”.
Fate had other plans, and it was Daiton who went to meet his maker first, that was back in April of 2015.
Well, the English say blood always tells, or more simply, some things are in the DNA. Daiton’s son, Faheem, and nephew, Never, have vowed they “will never work together again”, barely a year after they teamed up and things were looking up.
Two months ago, they were in Marondera launching their debut six-track effort titled “Ndezvedzinza” – which translates to “It runs in the family”.
Need we say more? Faheem inherited Pengaudzoke after his father’s death, while Never is a son of Daiton and Josphat’s sibling, making them first cousins. In Africa, they are simply brothers.
Last week Never fumed: “If I’m making a wrong move, so be it, but the truth of the matter is I’m never going back to work with Faheem. I’m moving forward and I know for a fact that I will always be in music but not with the group Pengaudzoke. After all, Faheem has blocked my calls and messages meaning he wants nothing to do with me,” said Never.
Never, who has been in music longer than his cousin having worked with Josphat’s Somanje Stars, appeared to have brought a new lease of life to Faheem’s group. He officially joined Faheem last June and the two held live shows as they fine-tuned their album, “Ndezvedzinza”.
Faheem is also breathing fire.
“I successfully took over Pengaudzoke in 2015 and drove the group out of murky waters without (Never’s) help. I started without him thus his absence does not cause any change, good or bad . . . I will not be engaging his services again, he has shown me an uncouth side of him,” said Faheem.
Indications are that Never is likely to rejoin Josphat’s Somanje Stars.
Some think Uncle Josphat is meddling in Pengaudzoke, fanning disunity in the group he fought his brother Daiton to control. Josphat denies the charges.
But what exactly could have gone wrong with the fledgling union? Investigations by The Sunday Mail Society indicate hell broke loose when Faheem decided to hire former Pengaudzoke band member Edmore Makoni as their manager. Makoni worked with the late Daiton, first as a guitarist, before rising through the ranks to become band manager and then getting sacked.
“Eddie once worked namudhara Daiton and they were never in good books. He had to fire him because of his shenanigans. How then does one expect us kids to be able to control him? It is better I leave than give myself unnecessary headaches,” said Never.
Faheem said his enraged cousin was a misguided missile.
“It is now a month since we hired the new manager and things have improved drastically over the period. We are now getting more shows and the welfare of the band is being taken care of in a professional manner.
“When I worked with Eddie during the days of Daiton, I did not see any problem with him hence my decision to hire him. Besides, he knows his job.
“The problem is Never unnecessarily went with what he thought is our dirty linen to the public through WhatsApp. He even announced his resignation from the band on the group’s social media platform. Honestly, I can’t trust a person who behaves like this in my group.”
Some things just run in the family.
