Comedian Prosper Ngomashi, widely known as Comic Pastor, has left Bus Stop TV in circumstances that have been linked to Anne Kansiime’s show in Harare.
The Comic Pastor worked with producer and co-founder Lucky Aaron and two other comedians Sharon Chideu (Maggie) and Samantha Kureya (Gonyeti) in the team that is well known for its comic skits on social media.
Ngomashi reportedly announced his decision to leave the group after failing to perform at the recent comedy night at Harare International Conference Centre that was graced by Ugandan Anne Kansiime.
Sources said he clandestinely arranged to perform alone at Kansiime show when he was supposed to inform the other Bus Stop TV members about the contract and there was a conflict within the group.
Bus Stop TV is said to have had another arrangement with show organisers which saw Gonyeti going on stage while Ngomashi was elbowed out.
“He had separate agreement with one of the promoters but it failed to go according to the plan after the other Bus Stop TV members complained and he failed to perform while Gonyeti was given a slot. He felt betrayed and left the group,” said the source.
However Ngomashi said he had not left because of any conflict, but had just decided to take a break from doing skits.
“We had a very cordial working relationship as a team at Bus Stop, but it’s just that I have decided to take a break from skits. I am going to concentrate on stand-up comedy,” he said.
He said Bus Stop TV is an institution that can move forward without his contribution.
They can go ahead without my contribution because they are an institution. We are comedians and we need to be innovative and come up with new appealing ideas,” he said.
Aaron confirmed Ngomashi’s exit saying they do not know why he left the group.
“I just heard that he had separate arrangements with the promoter (of Kansiime show) to perform at the show but he failed, so we are not sure what then happened. He just communicated to me that he was no longer interested in Bus Stop TV,” he said.
He said they were still to get his replacement.
“It is now a week after his departure and we are still looking for a replacement.”
Ngomashi joined the crew following the exit of comic duo Bhutisi and Khedha from the team that was then known as PO Box.
The two had a conflict with Aaron forcing them to start their own project named PO Box Reloaded.
Ngomashi rose to fame with his popular skit “Shamhu” that took a swipe at rowdy Zimdancehall musicians and his works charmed a number of individuals and organisations that contracted him for various promotions.
At Bus Stop TV, he mainly played the role of a greedy and mischievous pastor with Maggie and Gonyeti as his wives.
Ngomashi’s absence from the team was conspicuous at Jah Prayzah’s album launch at HICC last weekend where Bus Stop TV had a slot that featured Gonyeti, Maggie and newcomer Ben 10 who joined the crew a few weeks ago