The Sunday Mail
Hypocrites!
THEY are noxious, shameless, conceited and thoroughly insufferable.
They will publicly tell you to hate that which they secretly love; they will disparage that which they admire; and publicly denigrate that which they secretly respect.
Of course, they will publicly tell you they do not read Bishop Lazi, yet, away from prying eyes, they will ravenously gorge his work and archive it as souvenirs.
They think that incorrigibly remaining on their chosen side of an imagined unbreachable iron curtain in a supposedly polarised society is a sign of strength, not weakness.
How sad!
There is definitely strength in sometimes loving, admiring and respecting even your perceived foes — however transitory this might be.
But hypocrites will always be hypocrites.
Matthew 23:2-4 counsels us to be wary of them: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.”
After the Bishop’s piece on Simon Chimbetu and his music last week, one “teacher of the law” (pun not intended) from the cold isles, who is famous or infamous — depending on which side of the “iron curtain” you sit — for his weekly rumbling compositions, was so moved that he could not help but try his own commemorative thread of Chimbetu on Twitter.
While the execution was catastrophically abysmal, the teacher of the law can, however, be commended for his noble and well-meaning effort. Kikikikiki.
Oluoch Kanindo . . . The man who changed our music
Unbreakable bonds
Well, Bishop Lazarus’ focus on Chimbetu and his music was not by default but by design.
It was meant to showcase the deep bond that we share as Africans.
Most of the music that we listen to today in this part of the world, be it in some parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Kenya and of course our teapot-shaped Republic, is largely a variant or adaptation hived off the benga music, which is thought to have originated from the western shores of Lake Victoria.
Researchers say benga music, however, was largely influenced by the soulful Cuban rumba.
And it is thought that Cuban rumba found its way to East Africa through Congolese guitarist Jean Bosco Mwenda and his cousin, Edward Masengo.
As history and fate would have it, it was Kenyan technician Phares Oluoch Kanindo, who at one time had a stint with international British record label EMI Records, who, through his creative genius, harvested, mastered and popularised the benga music through POK Music Stores.
The music was distributed to East, West and Southern Africa under various labels that included Lolwe, Oyundi, Duol, Sungura and Kanindo.
Since most of the music that was sold in this part of the savanna was on Kanindo-branded records, locals came to generically refer to it as “kanindo”.
Sungura (swahili for rabbit), which was marked by the signature fast-paced guitar, found favour with local artistes.
It is, therefore, unsurprising that during his stay in Tanzania as a budding guerilla fighter, Chimbetu was naturally infected and converted by the quintessentially African rhythms of the benga music, which he naturally co-opted and adapted to his own unique brand.
But, whichever and however it is packaged and branded, variants of the benga music remain recognisably distinct: the talking lead guitar, the systematically throbbing conga drums and the cowbell hand percussion instrument.
So, besides the unbreakable familial and blood bonds that tie us together as Africans, there is the shared soul-soothing music bonds.
Shared future
Quite clearly, the benga music is somewhat the common spice of the potpourri of delectable music dishes in this part of the continent.
It validates our shared and common heritage, our common realities and our shared future as Africans.
It this shared bond that makes all of us — well, at least most of us —stridently clamour today for the United States of America, the United Kingdom and the European Union bloc to unyoke the heavy burden they put on us for reclaiming that which we have historically held dear and sacred to us — our land.
Reminiscent of the comradeship that obtained during the decolonisation period, SADC has duly closed ranks in its determined push to ensure that sanctions, which were unilaterally imposed and are being robustly enforced outside the framework of the United Nations, are removed.
And the region is in it for the long haul — for as long as the sanctions remain, the lobby will relentlessly continue.
It reminded the Bishop of the sacrifices, some of which came at a huge cost,
made by various African countries such as Tanzania, Zambia and Mozambique to support our triumphant fight against colonialism.
Today they are again in the trenches with us in this epochal war to have the encumbering sanctions lifted.
But not all are sharing the trenches with us today.
Some have already thrown in their lot with those that will stop at nothing to ensure that their interests trump over ours in this part of the world.
As the Bishop said last week, what made Chimbetu iconic even beyond our borders was not only his mastery of his version of benga, but his lyricism; his ability to come up with soulful social commentary that was grounded in an unstinting belief in Africanness.
You see, some artistes are like seers, which usually makes their work timeless.
When Chimbetu penned “Ndima” in 1999, which is off his inimitable album African Panorama (Chapter 1), it seems he was envisioning what is happening today, where some among us feel embarrassed or politically awkward to identify with the national cause.
Today they will be busy issuing hollow statements and platitudes just to obfuscate the conversation around sanctions.
The lyrics to “Ndima” are quite prophetic:
KuBudiriro kwedu kwatinogara havawanikwe
PaChisangano pamusha wevanhu havasvike
Patinorangarira magamba havawanikwe
Vanomirira kusora vachibvongodza muto
(Chorus)
Kuregererana kuye kwaramba
Kugarisana kwacho haaa kwaramba
Kudyidzana kwacho aaa kwaramba
Mutipeiwo simba nditewere garwe
KuSakubva kwatinoswera havauye
PaChitungwiza pamusha wevanhu havagariiii
Patinorangarira magamba havawanikwe
Vanomirira kushora vachibvongodza muto
(Chorus)
Kushanda tese kuye kwaramba kaaa
Kuregererana kwacho aaaa kwaramba
Kugarisana kwacho kwaramba zvino
Dzorerai mweya wegamba mundima
Zvamaiti vachachinja heeee zvaramba
Zvamaiti vachashanduka hooo zvaramba
Pamutambo mukuru yenyika havabatsire
Vanomirira kushora vachibvongodza muto
Reawakening
It is a powerful song with a powerful message.
It eerily captures what is currently happening at the moment.
It calls out cynical Zimbabweans who endlessly trash their own country and always pooh-pooh efforts to move it forward.
They boycott national events and are always ready to spoil the progress the country would be making.
Chimbetu, however, calls for reawakening the fighting spirit needed to finish the nation-building project, which began at Independence.
And it is this spirit that was awakened in 2017 when the revolution was reborn, repurposed and refocussed to take the country on a new trajectory to realise the aspirations that we as a people fought for and were willing to die for.
Well, those who have allied with the sanctioners feel the embargo is the weapon that they need to collapse the governing party and pave way for them to assume power.
How naïve!!
How long are these people prepared to put Zimbabweans on a skewer and barbecue them over sanctions?
What is even the logic behind them?
But get it from the Bishop, soon, and very soon, Zimbabwe will overcome.
Bishop out!
