Online Reporter
Langalihle Mhiti-Zimpapers Entertainment Hub
ACE music producer Clive “Mono” Mukundu has claimed that gospel star Fungisai Zvakavapano-Mashavave is probably suffering from DEMENTIA in the latest explosive chapter of the row between the two artists.
The two have been trading blows on social media.
Fungisai, who is the leading voice in which some artists are fighting those who are making a living by simply singing their songs and, in some occasions, even copying their dancing styles and how they dress, has questioned Mono’s contribution to some of her songs.
In an interview with Zimpapers Arts Hub, Mono was brutal.
“For someone to forget such a well-documented history could be due to dementia, so we must pray for her recovery. That is all I can say,” Mukundu said.
“Well, she is one of the group of artists ganging up on The Intotal Band.
“I mentioned dementia because she claims she never worked with me.”
Mukundu says his professional relationship with Fungisai goes back to January 7, 2001, when they recorded ‘Tinokutendaishe Volume 1’, which featured the popular song ‘Vanogona Mwari’.
He says they followed it with ‘Toite Zvedenga” on February 7, 2002, before working on approximately five or six more albums.
“Then we recorded ‘Toite Zvedenga’ on February 7, 2002, and then we did approximately five or six more albums.
“All of them produced hits,” he said.
According to Mono, their relationship was also visible on stage, with the two working together in live performances between 2001 and 2005.
And he claims the relationship did not end there.
Mono says their most recent collaboration came in 2023, when he produced ‘Vana Vapera’, Fungisai’s collaboration with Silent Killer.
“This time at my studio,” he said.
But if Mono came with dates and studio history, Fungisai came armed with a completely different argument – records, credits and receipts.
She insists music production is not something that should be rewritten decades later through podcasts, social media posts or competing recollections.
“Information about music production isn’t a matter of opinion to be debated on podcasts 24 years later.
Fungisai Zvakavapano-Mashavave
“It is a matter of record, permanently etched onto the album sleeve,” Fungisai said.
She accused unnamed individuals of trying to rewrite history and claim credit for work she believes was done by others.
Then she dropped another bombshell, invoking Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels.
“According to Joseph Goebbels, if you tell a big lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it,” she said.
Fungisai also accused some people in the industry of being obsessed with attention.
“When people are spotlight sick, they will shamelessly claim the work of others. It is fascinating how they can eventually believe their own misrepresented narratives,” she said.
She suggested that some individuals become uncomfortable when they are not at the centre of attention and resort to what she called “dramatic fabrications”.
She also referred to what she described as “classic Histrionic Personality Disorder”, although she was not making a clinical diagnosis.
Fungisai insists there is a difference between producing a song and being a musician hired to reproduce a producer’s work.
“There is a difference between being a producer and a hired session artist who learns and recreates what the producer has already put together for the purposes of establishing a live band,” she said.
Fungisai was contacted for comment on the claims but had not responded by the time of publication.
However, in a post on her Facebook page, she said:
“For years, we may have participated in these narratives out of kindness, hoping the elevation would help them.
“But there is a fine line between helping someone build an image and watching them become consumed by their own lies, pure bitterness and hatred.
“There is a difference between being a producer and a hired session artist who learns and recreates what the producer has already put together for the purposes of establishing a live band. Kudzidza hakuperi.”
The latest explosion is part of a wider social-media and public debate over the history and ownership of Zimbabwean music.
The argument has increasingly centred on the contributions of producers, session musicians, live-band members and headline artists – and whether people who helped create or arrange a sound receive proper recognition years later.
Fungisai has been pushing back against claims she believes rewrite the history of her catalogue, while Mono has responded by pointing to his long-standing professional relationship with her and specific recordings as evidence.
The dispute has also become entangled with a broader disagreement involving The Intotal Band, with Mono accusing Fungisai of being among artists “ganging up” on the group.
What began as a question of who produced what has spilled into the public arena, with old collaborations, album credits and studio histories being dragged back into the spotlight.
