Legend Thomas Mukanya Mapfumo turns 76

Internationally acclaimed US-based Zimbabwe musician, Thomas Mapfumo, is now 76 years old.

The Mamvemve hitmaker took to his official Twitter account to announce his Birthday.

“I am 76 today! I thank God for bringing me this far and blessing my life,” said the talented crooner in comments posted on his page.

“I have been extremely blessed to do what I love for a living, and to live long enough to see my children (& family) thrive and grow. Ndinotenda Mwari ne mudzimu  Thank you for the birthday wishes!” he said.

Affectionately known as Mukanya in showbiz, the debatably controversial musician is celebrated back home and has a glittering career that spans from the epoch of Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle to the post-Independence era.

Once a darling of the landlocked southern African country’s ruling ZANU PF party, in the early 2000s, Mukanya and his Blacks Unlimited ensemble went into self-imposed exile in the United States after a state-sponsored chaotic Land Reform Programme under dethroned late dictator, Robert Mugabe.

The curtains to his nearly-two-decade exile came down recently after Mugabe’s humiliating ouster from power.

Despite ending his two-decade exile a couple of years ago and briefly returning back home after Mugabe’s dethronment, the chimurenga musician’s relationship with incumbent leader Emmerson Mnangagwa, who replaced Mugabe in a 2017 coup has, nonetheless, improved.

In the 2018 elections, Mapfumo publicly endorsed main opposition MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa who controversially lost to Mnangagwa in the disputed presidential elections held that year.

Zwnews