Legendary Sungura musician Leonard Karikoga Zhakata said he is only an artist and not a politician but people always have different interpretations to what he intends to say in his songs.
Speaking during an interview with the Daily News on Sunday Assistant Editor Maxwell Sibanda, Zhakata said he, however, does not harbour any hard feelings about the censorship of his songs during the Robert Mugabe era.
The 52-year-old released songs such as Mugove, Sakunatsa and Mubikira which were considered critical of the regime and his songs were banned from State-run radio stations. Commenting on the era when his music was considered anathema by authorities, the ZORA singer said:
I never developed hard feelings; in fact, it was an opportunity for me to add my voice to freedom of expression as well as the freeing of the airwaves, which I did and I am happy to see so many radio stations in our country contributing positively to the development of our nation.
I also learnt many lessons from that era; I became fearless, yet on the other hand, I now practice self-censorship in some of my songs.
Zhakata also spoke about his family. He said he has been married to his wife Ruth for a long time and the couple have four children. He said:
So many years in marriage, we have four children — Chamu Lionel, Angela Leossa, Petula Pepukai and Kanotonga Lennon.
Chamu did his 1st degree at Africa University, Angela did her accounting degree in China, Petula is doing law in SA and Lennon is doing lower 6.