Maungwe Brothers bounces back

By Vasco Chaya

Maungwe Brothers, the late Thomas Makion’s musical band, has released their first studio album since the death of the chart-topping Makorokoto singer.

Makion died 18 years ago but his cousin brother Fred “Biggaz” Zhakata refused to see his rich musical legacy dying as well.

“We are just picking it up from where Makion left. We can’t afford to let his rich musical legacy die because he died,” Zhakata told the Daily News.

The new studio album is called Bhora Mberi, which literally translated to English to mean “going ahead”.

Zhakata, 38, hails from the Maungwe area of Rusape.

He is not new to the music industry as he was part of Leonard Zhakata’s Zimbabwe All Stars band for a couple of years.

“Leonard (Zhakata) is my uncle. I used to be part of his management team. Music is an in-born thing to me.

“I decided to revive the Maungwe Brothers Band because I wanted to fill the gap created by the death of Makion,” he said.

The Maungwe Brothers Band was founded by the duo of Leonard Zhakata and Makion way back in the 1980s.

As the trend in showbiz, the two split at the peak of their careers.

Zhakata told local media that their split was “amicable” as “they had always treated their composition separately”.

After the split, the Mugove hit-maker formed Zimbabwe All Stars, leaving Makion with the name Maungwe Brothers.

Makion’s discography is made up of about seven studio albums and some of his popular songs include Makorokoto, Kuparara Kwenyika, Zino Irema and Ndaringa among others.

Unfortunately, by the time of his death, Makion’s popularity had waned.

On the other hand, Zhakata’s discography constitutes hit albums such as Maruva Enyika, Nhamo Dzenyika, Vagoni Vebasa, Udza Vamwe, Ndingaite Sei, Mubikira, Gotwe and Mutunga Dzese only to mention but a few. DailyNews