The much-publicised Thomas Mapfumo’s Peace Tour show failed to take off in Gweru on Friday night. Mukanya, as he is affectionately called by his fans, did not perform as anticipated at the Gweru Golf Club due to a problem with a power cable. Engineers reportedly failed to fix the problem on time and the show had to be cancelled.
There was also commotion as a result of the high entrance charges of US$10 or $40 in Bond/RTGS and EcoCash. Some suspected machete-wielding gold panners allegedly forced themselves into the venue shouting “Tinozvidira jecha. Where do you think we can get the United States dollars.”
An eyewitness who spoke to the Standard said
How can you say in the whole of Gweru you can fail to get a cable for power? The organisers of the show did their part and were assured that all was going to be well. Actually, some people tampered with a power point near the stage leaving us with only the alternative of seeking power from the main switch, which was over 20m away. It was clear sabotage.
Thomas Mapfumo’s publicity manager Blessing Vava apologised profusely for the disappointment. He said
It was so unfortunate and we would like to apologise to our fans. What happened was beyond our control. We came well-prepared to roll and we had done our homework, but the issue of the cable could just not be solved.
I would not want to play the blame game as of now. My word is that we are just very sorry to our fans and all who had come to meet Mukanya.
On behalf of Entertainment Republic, we would like to express our utmost apology to all the Chimurenga fans who attended our leg of the Gweru Peace Tour,” read the statement posted on the organisers’ Facebook page.
Dr Thomas Mapfumo and The Blacks Unlimited could not perform due to technical difficulties that were unforeseen to us. Dr Mapfumo was ready to perform and he cherishes the time he got to meet and greet his fans.
Please be advised all the other shows will continue as planned. A new date will be announced for the Gweru show. Any inconvenience caused is sincerely regretted.
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