All in the name of charity

Memorial Fund Day to be held at Gwanzura Stadium on December 3.
The concert – the brainchild of the Zimbabwe Musicians and General Arts Trustee – will see various musicians like Suluman Chimbetu, Freddy “Kapfupi” Manjalima,

Madzibaba Nicholas Zakaria, Leonard Zhakata, Peter Moyo, Energy Mutodi and King Pharaoh among others participating for a worthy cause.
This will be the second time that the association will raise funds for artistes’ widows following the inaugural fund-raising concert held at the Chitungwiza Aquatic Complex in 2000.

Barbara Tazvida, widow of the late Smoko Music founder Fanuel “System” Tazvida, benefited from proceeds raised from the show, which was attended by the who-is-who in local showbiz.

“This time around we have decided to raise funds for about 50 widows of departed musicians because we realised that there are many of them who need assistance and we can’t afford individual shows for each one of them. We are expecting to raise more than US$50 000 from the show and this will benefit the widows of the musicians as well as the families and orphans of the departed artistes,” Matias Kush, the president of the organisation, said.

Kush said all the artistes who are billed to perform have confirmed their participation, although negotiations with sungura icon Alick Macheso were still underway.
One of the artistes, King Pharaoh, said he was honoured to be part of the event meant to honour the widows of some of the country’s great musicians.

“It’s an honour because these (fallen musicians) were our friends and it is comforting to know that there are some people who can remember our families and widows after we have passed on.

“People should come in their numbers and support this worthy cause. We are also promising fireworks since this will be one of our first major shows as Marumbe Express after having been quiet for some time,” said King Pharoah, who has a new album and DVD, “Gondo Harishaye”.
Tazvida (Barbara), the president of the Widows of the Late Musicians of Zimbabwe, is expected to lead her fellow widows at the concert.