The Sunday News
Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Correspondent
OVER a month since the country’s Nomination Court sat to decide on the list of those that will vie for presidential, parliamentary and council elections, another candidate has belatedly thrown his hat in the ring for the 30 July plebiscite.
On Friday morning, Zimbabweans woke up to dancehall chanter’s manifesto, which came in the form of a song called Parliament.
In just under three minutes, the chanter outlines his vision, declaring himself in no uncertain terms as the spokesperson of ghetto youths trying to stay afloat while lost in a raging sea of hardship.
As the powers that be in the country try to finally lift the country out of its economic quagmire, the Gafa has also thrown his hat into the ring. Throughout the track, Winky touts himself as a sober voice, chanting about the need to uplift the country’s youths, some who are finding themselves on corners in the country’s poorest communities, addicted to drugs that pose a threat to their long term health.
In the flurry of online activity that followed the song’s release, some suggested that Winky had found his political voice, something that some did not expect despite his proven track record as a social commentator.
However, following the song’s release, his manager Jonathan Banda said he recognised that in the highly politically charged environment as the country marched towards elections, some might misread the song’s message. According to Banda, it would be folly for anyone to hijack the song’s message as Winky spoke for ghetto youths, who he regarded as his only constituency.
“I think it would be unfair for anyone to try and claim ownership of the song or the message. The only people who can claim to own the message behind the song are ghetto youths. These are people who are a social constituency and not a political one. No political player can claim it,” said Banda.
According to Winky’s camp, although the song seemed political, it was inspired by personal events after the chanter had witnessed happenings in his own local environment.
“It actually came through after we lost four young people in our ghetto in Kambuzuma. That’s why this song is a call to soberness more than anything. That’s why he uses language that can only be understood by ghetto youths in this song. Some of them are drugged to the point of immobility. So the song is also about calling for an end to behaviour that’s self-injurious because it’s painful to lose young people,” said Banda.
Banda also revealed that Winky had not changed his outlook on life or politics.
“He’s not really political but he bumps into politics like everyone else. He’s a consumer of media products and so here and there he comes across content that has political overtones,” he said.
As one of the spearheads of the country’s voter mobilisation campaign, Banda said they had made sure that Winky will join the rest of his countrymen and women in electing the country’s next round of leaders.
“We made it a point that he registers because we want to be seen practising what we preach. So he registered in Epworth sometime during the mobilisation campaign,” he said.
