Chimurenga music guru, Thomas Mapfumo, says there is need for a new revolution in Zimbabwe, which has been ruled by President Robert Mugabe for almost 36 years.
In an exclusive interview, Mapfumo said it is unfortunate that Zimbabwe has to end up going this way as elections have over the years favored the ruling Zanu PF party.
He said time has come for young people to remove President Mugabe and his government from power.
“The young generation should take over. They have been to school, they know a lot of things. We have these people who are in power who do not want to part with power and most of us are corrupt. Africa is full of corrupt leaders and we are not even moving forward.
He noted that Zimbabwe is currently one of the poorest nations in the world due to a leadership crisis. He singled out President Mugabe and his Zanu PF officials to allegedly ruining a nation which was almost a gem for Africa.
“He used to be a hero, today he is not. He is not a hero, he is corrupt. He is a dictator, he is a thief … $15 billion (allegedly looted diamond revenue) the money that is not accounted for. Where is it? The money is there in Zimbabwe. These people should be arrested and if they pay back the money Zimbabwe will be back on the right trek.”
He claimed that Zimbabwe’s ruling elite looted the diamond revenue said to have vanished in Manicaland’s diamond fields resulting in the government blocking all mining activities in the in the region.
Mapfumo said, “The rest of the people on top including the president should face the music. We don’t want to hear anything about Zanu PF. If you want the country to get back to the right trek, do away with Zanu PF and all those parties that are coming up now … They say ‘we are People First’ … Where were they? They are part of the system (ruling elite).”
He said the solution was to wage a new revolution in the country in order to get rid of Zanu PF.
“The young generation has to do something, they have to do something. May be they have to fight again. We fought in the revolution war … They have to be another one … There have to be another revolution war waged by young people. There is no other way out. Elections have failed and all,” said the music guru, who is in exile in America.
But Zanu PF’s Nick Mangwana said Mapfumo should shut up. “For him to sit there and say things like that Zimbabwe needs a war or revolution is reckless. Whose child does he want to go to war to kill whose child? He wants fellow Zimbabweans to kill other Zimbabweans. That’s proper recklessness. He is an irresponsible old man. He should concentrate on playing his xylophone and mbiras not to sway in those dangerous waters.
“I think he should just shut up. He should stick to the folk stuff hiyehiye hinde hinde then people will appreciate it.”
He noted that this is the second time that Mapfumo is saying such a thing as “he said America should invade Zimbabwe … What type of an old man would say that and to say he is a man is to be too generous.”