Artistes becoming charity cases

By Vasco Chaya

On Friday rising musician Ashton “Mbeu” Nyahora donated some groceries to sungura star Tedius Matsito whose craeer has been on the wane since 2009 when he was involved in a life-changing accident that led to the amputation of his leg.

The horrific accident also resulted in the Gede hit-maker, who has produced over 21 albums, losing his musical equipment.

Though his life improved marginally after a local commercial bank imported an artificial leg for him from Germany, Matsito’s career never flourished again.

The weekend donation by Mbeu, under the auspices of Zimbabwe Business and Arts Hub (Zibah), appeared to have given Matsito the courage to dream again.

“I have been humbled by what Mbeu has done. I had never met him before but he has shown true love to me.

“My hope is to recover from both the health and financial complications that I am facing and revive my music career .I want to reclaim that top position again,” Matsito told the Daily News on Sunday after the grocery handover.

The Nyaradzo hit-maker added that it was disappointing for him to be a charity case.

“Before my misfortunes, I was leading a comfortable life. I built a house in Kuwadzana and managed to buy two cars which I lost through accidents,” he said.

This not the first time Matsito has received assistance from fellow artistes. Two years ago, a Tedius Matsito Benefit Concert was held at the Big Apple in Harare. The concert featured the likes Nicholas Zakaria, Zakaria Zakaria, Suluman Chimbetu, Kireni Zulu, Progress Chipfumo, Dino Mudondo, Tete Pipilo, Tendai Dembo, James Nyamande and Josphat Somanje.

Sadly not much was realised from the concert.

Though Matsito remains defiant, insisting that quitting is not an option, a revival appears to be a long shot.

“Music is part of me, it is in my blood therefore despite these trying times, I will forge ahead till death,” he told the Daily News on Sunday.

The struggling musician, who ventured into music industry together with his two brothers Jabulani and Mickle (now late) in the early 1990s and topped local charts with hit albums such as Nyaradzo (1992), is confident that he will bounce back to glory.

But given the speech problems he now has as a result of a stroke he suffered, it is difficult to see how his music career will blossom once more.

Matsito is not the only artiste who has received help from fellow artistes recently. Last night Zibah was scheduled to hold a benefit concert for another fading sungura giant, Paradzai Mesi at PaFio in Highfield, Harare.

While Matsito’s career slump can be attributed to a series of accidents that befell him, the same cannot be said of Mesi.

The Njerama band leader’s career slump has largely resulted from indiscipline and his abuse of alcohol which has made music promoters shun him.

Mesi is now the pale shadow of the music star who rose to fame in 2000 with the album “Zviri Pachena.” Thanks to the success of the album, Mesi managed to buy car, a commuter omnibus and a good public address system.

All this is now history. The Wasara Musoro singer has now turned into a charity case. He now lives in a pole and dagga house in Glendale

Another artiste with sad riches-to-rags story is veteran actor Lawrence “Mudhara Bhonzo” Simbarashe. At the peak of his career, Mudhara Bhonzo lived a life of luxury. At one time he reportedly owned over 11 cars but he is now penniless.

To make matters worse, he lost his household property after his Chitungwiza house went into flames in 2012.

As if this is not enough, he has basically lost his once husky voice- a key component in his artistic career. Daily News