Zacharia to engage Magaya on music academy

By Vasco Chaya

HARARE – Seasoned sungura musician Nicholas Zacharia says he will approach Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries leader Prophet Walter Magaya for assistance to build his long-time dream of a Sungura Academy in Chitungwiza.

Zacharia is among the celebrity pioneers to join PHD Ministries which started off in his home town Chitungwiza before it moved to Harare’s Waterfalls area.

The Mabvi Nemagokora hit maker who is PHD Ministries in PHD Ministries praise and worship choir told the Daily News on Sunday that he is prepared to approach Prophet Magaya for financial help.

“Hatingatamburezve tichienda kuchurch (There is no point for us to suffer yet we are Christians).

“Once the Chitungwiza Municipality officially hands over the stand for the Sungura Academy to me, I will approach the Prophet for financial assistance,” Zacharia said.

The PHD Ministries leader has donated more than 10 houses, several cars and opened a number of businesses for numerous people as a way of blessing them.

Apart from approaching the Magaya, Zacharia said he will leave no stone unturned in  seeking assistance for the building funds.

“I have already approached other potential sponsors and they have promised to release funds once the stand is availed to me and we are not going back with knocking on potential sponsors’ doors for help,” he said.

In a wide-ranging interview, Zacharia said he was not going to be dampened by the current phase in which the dancehall genre is said to be outclassing sungura music in popularity.

“I will not be derailed from building Sungura Academy to develop the music genre of all time in Zimbabwe because people now think sungura has been overtaken by Zimdancehall.

“Sungura is still on top of the game but dancehall fans are so talkative that they tend to feed the society with wrong assumptions that sungura is a dying genre. Sungura will remain Zimbabwe’s music,” said Zacharia.

Despite all this — Madzibaba, as Zacharia is affectionately known by fans in the showbiz circles, is also dreaming to own a community radio station in Chitungwiza meant to promote local music industry paying special interest to sungura genre.

“I have a strong passion for sungura genre, I have also plans to own a community radio station based in Chitungwiza which will promote local artistes with airplay,” he said.

Meanwhile, Zacharia says he does not regret engaging Extra Kwazvose, a group comprising former Alick Macheso band members.

While of late Zacharia has been moving around the country with the Extra Kwazvose as a way of promoting them, some music analysts interpreted the move as meant to destroy Macheso’s camp.

Recently, they shared the stage in Shamva.

In his defence Zacharia told the Daily News on Sunday that as the “godfather” of sungura music he did not want to be drawn into cheap politics.

“I was approached by these guys (Extra Kwazvose) to promote them through staging joint gigs and indeed I agreed to help them in good faith,” he said.

Zacharia said he treats every artiste in the sungura dome as his child; hence his vision is to see the industry and the genre growing.

“I cannot be drawn into cheap politics affecting the music industry, I am a mature musician. We are born to forgive, imagine what will happen if God does not forgive us?

“I treat sungura musicians as my children, hence I treat them equally,” said Zacharia adding that he had known these guys well before they formed their own band.

“They used to work in Macheso’s Orchestra Mberikwazvo together with my young brother Zacharia Zacharia.