Music As A Weapon: Thomas Mapfumo Mukanya

By Afua Osei-Bonsu

Thomas Mapfumo Mukanya, is known throughout the world as “The Lion of Zimbabwe.” He is revered for his musical accomplishments as well as his social activism. He is the founder of Chimurenga (which means struggle in his native Shona tongue), music which blends the traditional instrument of his people, the mbira (or thumb piano) and western instruments such as the electric guitar, keyboard, horns and drums with politically charged lyrics and traditional proverbs. The mbira produces cyclic melodic vibrations and is traditionally used for religious or formal ceremonies and social occasions. There is a spiritual quality about Mukanya’s music. It is vital, essential, soulful and, as he describes it, helps him commune with his ancestors. Like Nigerian Afro beat star Fela Kuti, Mukanya is a legendary champion of the rights of the common man, focusing on governmental abuses of power with music that is sublimely hypnotic and precise. As Fela has aptly described, both have used music as “the weapon of the future.” And, both have faced vilification and spent time in prison.

Mukanya’s political struggle began in the 1970’s during the war for liberation against what was then the government of Rhodesia that was run by whites. He is a musician whose resistance to colonial rule involved respect for tradition. In 1977, he was jailed for 90 days because the white Rhodesian government considered his music to be subversive and was threatened by his popularity. Despite independence in 1980 and subsequent black majority rule led by Robert Mugabe for more than two decades, for Mukanya the struggles of Zimbabwe continue. He continues to speak against government corruption and rights violations of his people. After Mugabe came to power, he stripped white farmers of their land, much of which has gone untilled and resulted in widespread famine. It has been widely reported that as economic crises have risen, so has government repression. Some say that Mugabe’s dictatorial rule makes a mockery of the gift of independence. It was recently estimated that seven million Zimbabweans face starvation and that those who oppose the government face torture, arbitrary imprisonment and sometimes, death.


Mukanya currently resides with his family in Eugene, Oregon and travels widely with his band, “The Blacks Unlimited.” They will play a concert in July 2004 at The Hot House located at 31 East Balboa in Chicago. Call 312/362-9707 for more information. Mukanya and The Blacks Unlimited also have an upcoming European tour.


Afua: How does your music reflect the political situation in Zimbabwe today?
Mukanya: Well, the music I’ve been playing reflects the struggle in my country for liberation. When I started, we were fighting for freedom against white rule. Today, we have a black government, but there is no difference. So, when you think about it, sometimes it seems best to write love songs for the rest of the world. Then you think about the conditions under which most of your people live and you have second thoughts. You ask yourself, ‘what am I supposed to be doing for my people?’ I’m talking about poor people who are being harassed, people with whom I have lived and fought along side during the liberation struggle, people who continue to suffer and to struggle, people who have little hope, people who need to unite. I don’t see the needed support for them from the present government.
Afua: Let’s talk about the present government.
Mukanya: The present government is very oppressive. The president of my country, Robert Mugabe, is a dictator. There is an opposition party in our country, but the leader, is not allowed to speak on television or radio. Mugabe doesn’t want him to address the people and tell them what he thinks of him. In fact, once you are identified as a member of the opposition, then you are in trouble and the militia will come after you. But when you read the local paper, which is the government paper, it says there is democracy in Zimbabwe. There is no democracy in Zimbabwe. People are suffering. It’s like a one party state where nobody is allowed to address the people and tell them what he thinks of the country. Only Mugabe and his ministers are allowed to speak on television. So Zimbabwean people are not free. They are struggling. They struggled when they fought against white colonial rule. Today they are fighting against their own men, their own brother. He’s as black as I am and look where we are today. When we became independent we thought everything was going to be fine, but it isn’t. Today our people are still suffering. They need a change. Mugabe has been there for a long time (he just won his 5th six year term). We need a change. We need fresh leadership, somebody who has the people at heart. Mugabe doesn’t represent the people of Zimbabwe. He represents his political party. You cannot call someone like that president of a country because he doesn’t represent the rest of us. Every Zimbabwean citizen needs to be treated like a human being.
Afua: You developed music you call Chimurenga.
Mukanya: That is right. The word Chimurenga is a Shona word. It means struggle. That’s the type music that I will play for the rest of my life. I listened to a lot of other different types of music as a kid-jazz, rock ‘n’ roll and soul music. I decided to identify myself with my own people, which is why I play in Shona. I am trying to promote the culture of my people.
Afua: So what would you say are the primary things that have influenced you as a musician?
Mukanya: Well I’ve been a musician since boyhood. I grew up in the country with my grandparents and I started singing as a very small boy. I was the head boy herding cattle, goats and donkeys. There was music all around in those days. My grandparents were traditional people who did a lot of traditional things, like playing traditional music, singing, playing drums, the mbira, traditional dancing. When I came to stay in the city that was the very first time I listened to international music, music by popular names like Sinatra and Elvis. I really loved many of the old songs. I loved rock ‘n’ roll music. I thought Elvis Presley was somehow very, very good. I also listened to a lot of soul music, by artists like Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin. It was very exciting. As kids, we enjoyed that type of thing. But as time went on and I matured, I realized that our people were oppressed. I looked at my own identity and said to myself, ‘I grew up in the country and I grew up with traditional music. I wanted to start doing my own thing rather than play other peoples music. That thought encouraged me to create Chimurenga music. As a kid I listened to a lot of African music, music from the Congo, music from South Africa, music from Nigeria, Fela Kuti, Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba and the rest of the South African musicians. In the Congo there was Franco, a very good rumba singer. I admire his music. I also listened to a lot of American groups as well, great bands like Chicago Transit Authority, and Blood Sweat and Tears. But, as I said, I started realizing, that this was other people’s music. I questioned myself, ‘what am I supposed to be called? Who is Thomas Mapfumo Mukanya? Where do I come from? I’m from Zimbabwe. Do something Zimbabwean.’ That encouraged me to develop my own music.
Afua: Let’s talk about the mbira.
Mukanya: When I came to stay in the city of Harare with my parents, it was the very first time I listened to radio music. There were no radios in the country. People sang music from their head. The mbira is an instrument of my Shona culture. It is a very sacred instrument. It has something to do with our world of spirits. The spirits of our ancestors possess some people. This instrument provided the ancestor’s music. A long time ago, to be put on record or played on the radio wasn’t allowed. As someone who grew up in the country, I have always felt mbira music was just as good as any music that people dance to today. I decided to fuse mbira with electric guitar, keyboard, drums, and brass instruments and it came out beautifully. My band needed to tune the mbira to the piano to coordinate the pitch. The mbira was just something else. It was really electrifying. It sounded really good, something that evoked memories of our ancestors. People now dance to this music. Yet along time ago, mbira music wasn’t allowed to be recorded. I don’t know what happened, maybe my ancestors have given me their permission. That’s the story of the mbira.
Afua: What happened during the time of your detention?
Mukanya: I started writing songs about the social condition of my people, what was happening to them, what the situation was like in my country. We were under colonial rule and I was against that government. As a result, I was arrested and put into detention
for 3 months because they claimed my music was subversive. Well, I thought they wanted to kill me. They thought I was supporting the guerillas who were fighting from the bush, which meant that I was against the government of that day. But I kept saying that my music was my people’s culture. It had nothing to do with politics. At first they didn’t believe me. I kept saying that my music was the music of my people. My people were oppressed and I needed to stand by my people to liberate my country. So I wrote a liberation song (Hokoya or Watch Out). My music played a very important part in the liberation struggle. They put me in history books. I am a musician who is found in the Zimbabwean books of history. They know who I am. They know what I stood for then and for what I stand for today. I stand for the right things. I don’t want to support the wrong things. I want to support the right thing. We have known about white racism, but at the same time don’t forget there is black racism. We, as black people, also segregate ourselves against the white people. In the eyes of God, we are all the same. We are the same people. We are supposed to live peacefully as the people of God. We are the children of God. So why are we fighting against each other? We have people who are dictators, people who kill, people who haven’t got a heart and people who think they are gods. There is but one God, one love and we are His children.
Afua: What happened after your detention?
Mukanya: In the end, they decided to let me go because I actually had no case to answer. When I was let out of prison, I went straight to meet the other members of the band. We organized ourselves, got down to business writing more music and supporting the struggle. Warring factions decided to unite. There was a cease-fire, the dissidents were called to the table and were given a position with the government. There was another vice president. So there were two vice presidents, with Mugabe as president. They formed a coalition government but the government in our country today is corrupt.
Afua: What do you think is going to happen in Zimbabwe?
Mukanya: Change will come and my fear is it will be violent. Because people have had enough, they will likely fight back. If they dare fight back, there will likely be war. People have been oppressed for a long, long time. They have been denied freedom of movement and freedom of speech. One man is dictating to them like Zimbabwe is a company. Zimbabwe is a people’s country and the people are going to decide their destiny and say we have had enough of Mugabe. If that situation comes, then our country will be in the second liberation war.
Afua: So what is the message you are sending with your music?
Mukanya: The message in my music is about fighting back. The poor people are who I stand for. That has always been my message. We are trying to save the poor, who are being corrupted by the rich. The poor people remain poor and the rich are becoming very, very rich. This is not a good situation. We would like for people to love one another, look after one another. You must look to help the poor because they don’t get what those more privileged get. I always have my meals, my supper in the evening but there are a lot of people out there who actually don’t know what supper is like or what lunch is like. They don’t have a place to sleep or a job. Some people own mansions, while others sleep in the street. No one is doing a thing about it. We have had a lot of government preaching about looking after their people, but today we see a lot of poor people who have nowhere to go.
Afua: What’s the origin of your name?
Mukanya: Mukanya is my totem; that name is really popular back home. Most people in my country don’t call me Thomas Mapfumo. They call me Mukanya. It’s from the Kore Kore people, which is the tribe that I am from. That’s where my father was born and where the rest of my family lives. So I am Shona, that’s exactly what I am.
Afua: I read somewhere that Mapfumo means spear.
Mukanya: That’s true, Mapfumo means spear.
Afua: Now you live in Oregon. How do you find it?
Mukanya: There are very few black people in Oregon, but I like it because it’s peaceful. I now live in the small city of Eugene, where there are peace-loving people. I just love the place and my children are going to school. It’s not so crowded and it gives my children a chance to get on with their studies, which is really good.
Afua: How do you find the United States?
Mukanya: It’s a good place. There’s a bit of democracy in this country, where there’s a peaceful change of government. There’s a lot of power sharing in this country.
[Reprinted by permission. Thanks, Afua!]