Wenslus Murape
IT was almost inevitable that there would be some drama at Pakare Paye Arts Centre in Norton where musicians and fans were celebrating the life of the legendary Oliver Mtukudzi.
It was the first mega event to honour and celebrate the life of Tuku and it was held at the arts centre which he built.
A star-studded line-up, featuring the likes of Jah Prayzah, Mokoomba, Feli Nandi, Killer T, Bryan K, Gemma Griffiths, Gjembe Monks, Gwevedzi, Mary Anibal and Andy Muridzo will invited to perform at the festival.
Tuku, who was declared a national hero, died on January 23, 2019.
He was 60 and was inducted into the Afro-Pop Hall of Fame.
Five years after his death it was decided that musicians and fans should mingle to celebrate his life and honour him for his contribution to music in this country and the impact he made to millions of Zimbabweans.
But, there was also concern that there would be some drama at the event.
Tuku’s daughter Selmor was only included in the line-up of performing artists after a nationwide public outcry greeted her initial exclusion.
That decision, to initially leave her out of the group of performing artists, was linked by some analysts to strained relations between Selmor and Tuku’s widow Daisy.
But, this provoked a massive outcry from fans and the dominant sentiment was that it would not be a fitting tribute to the legend if his daughter was not part of the show.
Some of these disgruntled fans even called on the artists, who were invited to perform, to withdraw from the event in sympathy with Selmor.
In the end, the power of the people prevailed and Selmor was included in the line-up.
We have been hearing from people like Josh Hozheri, a veteran music promoter, telling us of the effort they put, behind the scenes, to ensure that Selmor was included in that line-up.
On Saturday night, things exploded when Selmor broke down, amid a tsunami of emotions, on the stage and walked away.
She was clearly carrying the baggage of the controversy which had led her to be initially excluded from the line-up and, despite being comforted on stage and being urged on by some of her fans to continue her show, she could not contain it and walked away.
As expected, this has dominated social media debate and it has split opinion.
There is a constituency which feels that Selmor was wrong to let her emotions lead her and to walk away from the stage on such a special occasion when she was supposed to honour her late father.
They feel whatever differences she has with Daisy should never have been allowed to push her to walk away from a stage on an occasion when she was celebrating the life of her father.
Others are singing in her corner and saying she was right because the emotions were too much for her.
For us, at H-Metro, our call is that this family feud should be brought to an end.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter