HARARE - Outspoken musician, Hosiah Chipangas current album, Madzimbahwe, which was restored to the airways after its launch five months ago, exposes the social ills faced by ordinary Zimbabweans at the hands of rogue state security agents and greedy politicians. Chipanga, who is arguably one of the best social commentators, described his music as the mirror of society.
In the album, he uses indirect speech to expose the subject of misappropriation of wealth, abuse of power, police brutality, arbitrary arrests and human rights abuse. Basa Rakanaka (Noble Profession), a thought provoking song that features in the album, describes the daily challenges faced by the general populace at the hands of state security agents.
The song idea came when I witnessed a very disturbing incident. I saw a group of police officers raiding street vendors in the (Harare) city centre. At the time, the economic environment was undesirable, the common man being the hardest hit. A lot of people were unemployed. Most people sourced alternative piece jobs from vegetables selling to juice cards merchandising in various street corners.
To me, seeing officers incarcerating street vendors, who do not have any other sources of livelihood, was the biggest wrong of mankind. The government needs to create employment first before sending security state agents to chase vendors off the streets, lamented Chipanga. The prolific hit maker became an enemy of the state after he was accused of being an anti-government activist, inciting the public to overthrow the Zanu (PF) leadership.
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