Online Reporter
Tafadzwa Zimoyo
Zimpapers Entertainment Editor
AS the ZIMURA debacle continues to unfold, one question keeps resurfacing– where are Zimbabwe’s biggest musicians in this whole saga?
Alick Macheso, Jah Prayzah and Winky D’s voices have been missing from the debate which has been raging on amid concerns from artists that ZIMURA is giving them a raw deal.
Their absence has become a talking point almost as loud as the crisis itself.
Sources claim the three are not part of ZIMURA but even that provokes some questions.
Where do the royalties from the airplay of their songs go, who collects them and what is ZIMURA’s role in all this?
Fans are also asking some uncomfortable questions.
“Why are the big artists quiet when everyone else is crying?” one fan posted online.
“Are they protected, or are they scared?” asked another.
A third comment summed up the mood bluntly: “If the giants don’t speak, who will?”
At the centre of the confusion is ZIMURA’s leadership crisis, which has split the organisation into two rival boards, each claiming legitimacy.
Press briefings, statements and counter-statements have emerged from different corners, sometimes within days of each other, creating a fog of authority that neither artists nor fans can clearly navigate.
One week, a press engagement suggests calm and continuity.
The next, a gathering of disgruntled artists paints a picture of collapse.
For musicians trying to survive off their craft, the mixed messaging has been destabilising.
This environment has left fans and artistes divided not along musical lines, but along interpretations of power.
Some artists are openly aligning with one camp, believing reform can only come from confrontation.
In June last year, H-Metro carried a front page story which highlighted the artists plight when we reported that gospel star Sabastian Magacha earned just US$120 from royalties in 2024.
This meant that he was earning just 33 cents a day.
Others are choosing silence, either to protect existing relationships or out of fear of being caught on the wrong side of a political fault line.
And, then there are the stars – the top names whose songs dominate radio playlists and streaming platforms.
Their silence is being read in different ways.
Fans, too, are feeling the fallout.
Veterans like Chief Hwenje and Feli Nandi have broken ranks, choosing confrontation over comfort.
Their actions have reignited debate but they have also highlighted the generational divide in how artists engage power.
One fan claimed:
“This fight is bigger than royalties. It’s about dignity. And dignity needs leaders.”
