Thomas Mapfumo – Lion of Zimbabwe roars from distant lands

IN August 2010 Thomas Mapfumo, the legendary Lion of Zimbabwe and father of Chimurenga music told me about his deep longing for home and his desire to return there to make music.

THOMAS Mapfumo, the Lion of Zimbabwe wants to go home. He’s been a long time away, roaring from distant lands, telling the world about the suffering of his people back home through the Chimurenga music style he founded and made popular way beyond his country’s borders, writes Lucas Ledwaba.

But Zimbabwe remains a dream for this man who has suffered persecution from his country’s colonisers and later from the former liberation movement that once declared him a national hero. He knows persecution from both oppressor and liberator. In the 1970s, Mapfumo was jailed for defying the colonial Rhodesian government through his Chimurenga music, which preached defiance and encouraged the people to rise up and reclaim their fatherland.

Then in the 1990s, when he sang about the rampant corruption and the political intolerance gripping his country, he was harassed endlessly by  Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF government for singing about its ills. Home for now is Oregon in the United States of America where he was forced to flee permanently in 2003 after it became clear those in power were prepared to go any lengths to silence him.

But home will always be the township of Mbare in Harare where Mapfumo (65) lived from the age of 10 after his family moved there from Marondera in Mashonaland East.

There is much sadness and longing in his calm, but deep voice when he speaks of home and the many friends, relatives he left behind and the decline of political and economic stability in his country.

“I miss my friends, my sisters, they are all struggling like everyone else. Even my own mom died three years ago and I was not able to bury her. It is my wish to visit her grave,” he says. He still hopes to return home someday and carry out his dream of nurturing young musical talent and indulge in one of his favourite pastimes, soccer. He owned a First Division club, Sporting Lions FC but was forced to sell it after he left Zimbabwe.

“I’m looking forward to the day I will go back home and play music. I work for the poor and I will always sing and encourage people to fight for their freedom. The poor are crying and the rich are smiling. We should be able to look after the poor. We fought for freedom in that country. We attained our independence and 30 years on we have failed,” says the man whose fearlessness in challenging authority and fighting for the underdog has earned him the nickname Lion of Zimbabwe from fans who admire his courage. 

Mapfumo first tasted the bitter medicine of official repression when his album Hokoyo was banned by the Rhodesian government in 1976. The song was a rallying call to Zimbabweans to rise up against the oppressive regime. He was later detained and released just before independence, but not before he was forced to sing at a government sponsored rally confirming puppet politician Bishop Abel Muzorewa.

Even then Mapfumo defied the authorities by singing liberation war songs condemning the regime and the same Muzorewa they were imposing upon the people.

Strangely, the purging of his music continued under Mugabe’s government. His album Corruption was banned shortly after it was released in 1989. Corruption’s release came just after the Willowgate scandal, in which cabinet ministers and other top government officials were exposed for having used their positions to buy cars from Willowvale Motor Industry at a fixed price and reselling them at huge profits.

Mapfumo’s title track, Corruption, delivered in a slow reggae  like rhythm, added insult to a government already injured and embarrassed by the scandal which led to the resignation of five ministers.

Further bans of his work continued with two songs from his 1999 album Chimurenga Explosion, and in 2001 Chimurenga Rebel was also barred from the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation’s airwaves. In 2003 the album Toi Toi shot to number one on Gramma Records cassette sales charts but fell foul of the ZBC and was also banned.

However, as the Zimbabwe government tried at every turn to silence him, elsewhere Mapfumo was honoured and recognised for his courage and musical genius. In 1999 he received an honorary music doctorate from Ohio University in the US.

At home he was honoured with a Masters Degree in Music from the University of Zimbabwe, further proof that a good man can never be put down.

That year he also won the Artist of the Year from the American World Music Awards and in 2000 he was voted Zimbabwe’s Person of the Century in the Art’s Award category. Then further proof that he was indeed a voice of reason came when the album Chimurenga Explosion, banned in Zimbabwe won the prestigious AFIM’s Best World Contemporary CD Award in March 2001.

Ironically, at independence in 1980 Mugabe declared Mapfumo a national hero, in tribute to the role he played through his Chimurenga music, which kept the flame of defiance burning bright during the dark days of Ian Smith’s colonial regime in the 1970s.

But by the late 1990s it had become increasingly clear that he was no longer regarded as such by the ZANU-PF government. Instead of turning a blind eye to the worrying signs of corruption and persecution of those who dared to speak out against a government that was increasingly sliding towards tyranny and intolerance, Mapfumo lived up to his reputation as a fearless voice of the masses. That turned him from national hero, in the eyes of Mugabe and his band of state looters, to a villain who was increasingly subjected to various forms of harassment. In 2000 the government tried to implicate him in a car theft syndicate, charges which would have seen him thrown in jail and dent his credibility. But the charges didn’t stick and Mapfumo continued where he’d left off with his hard-hitting lyrics.

But his tormentors were not just about to give it up like that. After a magistrate threw the case out of court, the state impounded all his cars and they were never returned.

And so the harassment continued, with police even going as far as arresting anyone playing or selling Mapfumo’s music. It was clear the free Zimbabwe he had longed and fought for was turning into a nightmare he had never imagined.

Then in 2003, Mapfumo realised the game was up. Sources in the state security service tipped him off that his life was in danger. The Lion of Zimbabwe had no other choice. He packed his bags and went into exile, joining thousands of ordinary people, professionals and political opponents fleeing Mugabe’s clampdown on dissenting voices.

He now calls Oregon home, but he still hopes to return to the land of his birth and one of his greatest wishes is to build a state of the art studio where he will help young musicians realise their dreams and guide them through the pitfalls of the industry. He would still be living in Zimbabwe and faced whatever came his way were it not for his family, a daughter, son and wife.

“I fear no one, but I am afraid for my children. I want them to be safe and live with the knowledge that they can go to school without any disturbances,” he says.

Mapfumo is still passionate about his country and has high hopes and dreams. He’s worried that many whites have been forced to leave Zimbabwe after Mugabe’s chaotic land reform programme at the turn of the millennium.

“A multi racial Zimbabwe would satisfy me. You go to a country and expect to see different races. God created this world like a garden with different flowers. People must be free to live anywhere, so long as they are not corrupt or thieves. Some of the whites who were born in Zimbabwe don’t even know where England is. They are Zimbabweans. They were born there, so why can’t they live there?” he says.

By living in the US Mapfumo is now part of many of Africa’s top artists such as Mali’s Salif Keita, Benin’s Angelique Kidjo and Congo’s Kanda Bongoman among many others, who have left the continent to seek greener pastures abroad, a trend which one might argue has somewhat crippled the local music industry. But Mapfumo argues otherwise.

“Those musicians are in fact doing a great job putting African music on the world map. We encourage young artists to do the same. Every artist wants to be in the US and Europe because that is where a lot is happening in terms of music. Foreign audiences don’t understand our language but they still appreciate our music. We are introducing them to our music and hopefully paving the way for the ones that will come after us,” he says.

Mapfumo and his band continue to tour the world, delivering the somewhat nostalgic, hair raising Chimurenga music which is a fusion of traditional Shona sounds of mbira, shakers, drums and electric guitars. Mapfumo delivers his powerful lyrics in the Shona language and his energy on stage defies his 65 years.

His lyrics challenge authority, question the morality of those in power and even more, offer a provocative analysis of the political and social situation.

Mapfumo has performed at premier world festivals and venues including WOMAD three times, the Summerjam in Germany, The Cactus Festival, The Houston International Festival, Detroit’s Symphony Hall, Central Park Summerstage, Celebrate Brooklyn, The Grassroots Festival, Bright Moments and continues to intoxicate audiences all over the US with his dose of Chimurenga music.

Yet even with such notable achievements to his name, he remains a humble man who carries himself with the dignity of an elder. He doesn’t have that ‘do you who I am’ arrogance you find in many superstars. He is just a simple man of the people, a lion whose roar continues to echo from worlds afar.

One of his great wishes is to record an album with another Zimbabwean legend Oliver Mtukudzi who still resides in Zimbabwe and makes music there and in South Africa. They were founding members of the band Wagon Wheels back in the 70s.

But as they both grew in stature and their outlook on music differed, they went their separate ways, fuelling rumours of a bitter fallout and rivalry. Mapfumo stuck to Chimurenga and Mtukudzi developed his now popular Tuku music.

“I would love to do an album with my good friend Oliver because we come a long way. We speak often and it would be great to record something together,” he says.

Both Mtukudzi and Mapfumo are among the few remaining Zimbabwean music veterans. Many have succumbed  to the effects of the often reckless and carefree lives synonymous with musicians and fame. Mapfumo, a staunch Methodist who doesn’t drink says he has always tried to teach members of his band, The Blacks Unlimited and other musicians the principles of clean living.

“I cannot begin to boast that I survived because of this and that. Everything comes from God. It’s not our wish. He’s the supreme. The day I go is known by Him. God has always been with me and I shall forever be grateful. I always teach my band members that life is not always about excitement, they must think about family, always be humble and stay away from drugs.

“But I miss my friends,” he says, reciting the roll of honour of his fallen colleagues as if reading them from a memorial engraved on his brain. “I miss them all, Ephraim Karimaura, Jonah Sithole, Enoch Mamba, Allan Mwale, Ashton “Sugar” Shiweshe, Shepherd Munyama. I miss them a lot, but we try to keep the fires burning now.” 

The fire still burns in his belly, and Mapfumo promises that his upcoming album will create a lot of interest among his legion of fans.

“The message is still very much the same but musically the sound is very advanced,” he says. “We’ve been working on it for the past three years.”

Is it his best album yet? He hesitates a little then says with a smile: “We have not done our best work yet.” -mukurukurumedia

The original article first appeared in City Press on 14 August 2010

Thomas Mapfumo Discography – Source wikipedia

• • Shumba (1990, Earthworks)

  Gwindingwi Rine Shumba (1981, Chimurenga Music)

• Mabasa (1983, Chimurenga Music, Gramma Records)
• Ndangariro (1983, Afro Soul)
• Chimurenga For Justice (1985, Rough Trade)
• Mr Music (Africa) (1985, Afro Soul)
• Zimbabwe Mozambique (1988, Chimurenga Music)
• Chamunorwa (1989, Chimurenga Music)
• Varombo Kuvarombo (1989, Chimurenga Music)
• Corruption (1989, Mango)
• Chimurenga Masterpiece (1990, Chimurenga Music)
• Hondo (1991, Chimurenga Music)
• Chimurenga International (1993, Chimurenga Music)
• Roots Chimurenga (1996, Chimurenga Music)
• Chimurenga ’98 (1998, Anonymous Web Productions)
• Live at El Rey (1999, Anonymous Web Productions)
• Chimurenga Explosion (2000, Anonymous Web Productions)
• Rise Up (2006, Real World Records)
• African Classics: Thomas Mapfumo (2009)
• Exile (2011)
• Lion Songs: Essential Tracks in the Making of Zimbabwe (2015)