Controversial but insightful sungura maestro Hosiah Chipanga has released a new album dedicated to the late army commander General Solomon Mujuru, who died in a mysterious fire at his Beatrice farm in 2011.The CD, emblazoned with the late national hero’s face, is a special dedication to the respected freedom fighter. Titled Gamba, the four-track album which hit the streets on Monday, cements Chipanga’s reputation as a fearless government critic.
All four songs that include the title track Gamba, KwaMarange, Vendor and Baba Abram are hard-hitting and spot-on, as they highlight the challenges the nation is grappling with.
In Gamba, Chipanga, whose voice clearly breaks as he cried during the recording of the song, questions how Mujuru could be killed by fire after surviving helicopter gunships, mines and grenades.
“This is the first time in my whole career that I cried during the recording of a song,” Chipanga told the Daily News in an interview this week.
On KwaMarange, Chipanga raises questions on the management of Marange diamonds and how the community has ended up being poorer than before the discovery of diamonds.
The song Vendor observes that the nation has been reduced to vending to survive while the police have abandoned fighting crime to concentrate on various fundraising ventures.
The album ends with a prayer Baba Abram as the musician commits the nation to God in the face of what he said was total State failure. The song also summarises all the challenges the country is battling.
“I had nothing else to do but to give everything else up to the Almighty. As human beings, we have completely failed,” Chipanga said.
The sungura singer said the four songs were enough dosage as he feels he had covered all current pressing issues.
“I did not want to overload the album that’s why I settled for only four songs. I feel that for now this is what the nation can handle,” Chipanga said.