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PARADZAI Mesi and trouble are Siamese twins.
The singer, who turns 51 on June 2, is a victim of self-inflicted problems.
Mismanagement and recklessness are taking their toll on him.
His love for booze, women and the good life, is well documented.
Music wise, he is very talented.
However, his biggest let-down has been his love for booze and drugs.
A hero in sungura circles, Para – as the singer is fondly known – has been courting controversy for over a decade now.
FAME
After announcing his arrival on the showbiz scene around 2000, Para failed to handle fame.
Buoyed by the success of some of his early hits like Tiri Huruva, Ushe Madzoro, among others, he failed to handle fame.
Para once had a tiff with Alick Macheso, who penned the song Murondatsimba, which was a direct attack at his copycats.
In return, he hit back with the track Zvipo NdezvaMwari.
After his “beef” with Macheso, a number of promoters were no longer comfortable in dealing with Mesi.
A few of the shows he did flopped.
WOMEN
In 2005, he married two wives – Bybit Charo and Rutendo Kapadza.
Rutendo is the younger sister of Para’s first wife Patricia Kapadza.
At one stage he had four wives.
In 2009, Para reportedly deserted all his four wives and 10 children and settled in Harare.
When H-Metro visited his Muzarabani homestead in 2010, two of his wives – Patricia and Lucia – were stranded with their children in Mt Darwin.
“We only know he is in Harare recording an album. We don’t know his address and telephone number.
“He doesn’t phone us and he never bothered to be with the family over the Christmas and New Year’s holiday,” Para’s first wife, Patricia, told us.
In Harare, he was said to be cohabiting with another woman.
BOOZE
In October 2009, a month after the launch of H-Metro, we tracked him in Muzarabani where Para was reported to have turned into a destitute.
Villagers at Muzarabani Growth Point told us that Para had become a slave of illicit brews coming from Mozambique.
The cars and public address system which he had acquired were destroyed.
He had to start from the bottom once again like what he did in 1997, when he assembled Njerama Boys, a group named after Njerama Mountains near Mavuradonha in Muzarabani area.
Around 2014, he tried to make a comeback but he was reported to have fallen on hard times.
Three years later, the situation got worse for him and he was now a destitute in Glendale.
A number of promoters, among them David Mudzudzu of Joy Centre and Divine Assignments tried to assist him but, in no time, he was back to his old habits – alcohol and drug abuse.
WAY FORWARD
After last week’s debacle, which saw Para being arrested for theft under the influence of alcohol, many players in the creative sector want him in rehabilitation.
As we help Para, we should always know the genesis of his problems to avoid a relapse of the same demons.
If only he could borrow a leaf from the footballer Messi.
Online Reporter