This is my first and last time commenting on the Oliver Mtukudzi saga.
I knew Tuku for decades, from his days at Radio and Tape Promotions in the early 1990s when I was in journalism school.
He was a normal human being like all of us, a musical genius, but like all human beings, he had his flaws, nobody doesn’t.
We all agree that he gave so much to this country’s well-being, and for that, he deserves our respect.
All of us have made mistakes in our private lives that we wish we hadn’t made, nobody is perfect.
Every documentary film I ever made had a Tuku soundtrack.
He did that for me at no cost.
The only documentary film I made without Oliver’s soundtrack was A Violent Response; the soundtrack was laid by his son, Sam.
Again, Sam refused to take money from me. They were good people, but like all of us, Tuku had his flaws.
I think enough has been said about this great musician’s private and family life.
Let us respect him and now move on from his private life.
I respectfully hope that his family can resolve their issues privately too and not make a spectacle of it, as it is tarnishing his memory.
We all have family issues, but we resolve them away from the public gaze.
There is so much that Tuku told me about people in politics, the music industry, and business, but it would be disrespectful to share that.
I wish others would feel the same way and let the legend rest in peace.
Nothing Tuku did can be undone, we can only learn from such lessons. Let the old man rest, please!
His children and wife have a right to talk about their experiences with their father and husband, respectively, but let us help them heal by not fuelling the rift.
They are hurting. What they need are voices that help them become a happy family, not voices of polarity.
We can be compassionate without inciting them, there is nothing that has been said that he didn’t address in his music.
Let us not find joy in sharing this family’s pain and misery. Let us pray for them to heal their painful rift and bridge the gap.
I have decided to speak not only because I knew Tuku personally but because I also feel that part of my success as a journalist was because of him.
He was in my first-ever documentary film, Pain in my Heart, talking about how HIV and AIDS affected him when his band members were dying, including his brother Robert.
That film won the African Journalist of the Year Award in 2007. I took the trophy to Pakare Paye for him to see it, he was super happy for me.
Ndapota hangu, chisiyayi Samanyanga vazorore murugare.
Below are two performances I recorded of Tuku at his base at Pakare Paye a few months before he died, and of his son Sam Mtukudzi in 2007.
Let us enjoy their music and not dwell on gossip that erodes their great work.
