Mugabe angered by Oliver Mtukudzi song

For many years there have been speculations as to why Zimbabwe music maestro, Oliver Mtukudzi, penned Bvuma Wasakara song in 2000.

The song is a message directed to a very old man who refuses to accept that he is now ‘an ancient creature’ that should rest and let the young ones takeover.

That old man in Mtukudzi’s song is believed by many to be Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, though the singer denies it and said he was actually singing about himself.

To put things into context, Mtukudzi was denied a honorary degree by University of Zimbabwe over his controversial lyrics.

A source close to the university at the time has revealed that Mutukudzi’s anti Mugabe song might have made it impossible for the president to honour a man who had scorned him publicly.

“Chief executive officer of Chitungwiza General Hospital, Obadiah Moyo, proposed the idea of honouring Mtukudzi with a University of Zimbabwe doctorate degree owing to his unquestionable contribution to the arts sector,” said academic and music expert, Fred Zindi, while  speaking at Mtukudzi’s Pakare Paye Arts centre in Norton.

“By then, I was in the University of Zimbabwe Council and I presented the issue to the university council and at first the deal was promising but later questions about the meaning of the song Bvuma started to pop up and that was when the deal went wrong.

“The (UZ) council then promised to furnish us with a reply after consulting the university chancellor(who happened to be the scorned man Mugabe) and up to now they are dilly-dallying with the issue and we are waiting for a reply,”he added.

Wasakara song has always been associated with Mugabe, in 2001, an engineer ,Steven Schadendorff,  was taken to court after he flashed a light on a Mugabe portrait when the song was being played in Harare.