Gospel musician Michael Mahendere received over $185 000 and a generous assortment of gifts on Saturday as he celebrated his 40th birthday, NewsDay reported. Among his presents were $185,000, two blocks of mines, and ten cows. The event was held at Golden Conife in Strathaven, Harare and featured an auction of two portraits, which sold for $400, and a platinum sponsorship of $15,000 from Grey Homes.
Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation deputy minister Tinoda Machakaire also gifted Mahendere $20,000 and 10 cows. In addition, eight musicians contributed a total of $150,000 towards Mahendere’s birthday. Businesswoman Zodwa Mkandla presented the artist with two return tickets to Victoria Falls, and an anonymous guest gifted him two blocks of mines.
Mahendere announced that the proceeds from the birthday dinner would be used to establish a state-of-the-art recording studio focused on mentoring and nurturing young gospel talent. He said:
The proceeds that we had at this event will be going towards our three major projects. The first one is we want to built a state-of-the-art studio. Forty years for me means I need to start impacting other people’s lives.
We are going to do talent search and raise more young ministers. You are going to see more young ministers coming up, whom we will record and push. There could be someone who can sing and they are very far away and lack an opportunity and just as I received an opportunity years back, I also want to create that platform for others.
We will help them write songs, push them and contribute to the society as well as the music industry.
There is a serious growth in Zimdancehall, where artistes are raising each other. There is a serious growth that is happening in any other genre and we are lacking that in the gospel genre.
So we are going to be focusing more on gospel music from different churches. It does not matter which church one is from.
Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services deputy minister Kindness Paradza also revealed that the ministry was processing Mahendere’s application for a radio and television broadcasting license. He said:
Minister Mahendere will undoubtedly live to see his dream of setting up a dedicated radio station for gospel music come to fruition. This can hasten the distribution, promotion and accessibility of gospel music.
As a young man, Mahendere has achieved a lot. His music is not only national and regional, but has gone international. We are proud that he is also lifting the Zimbabwean flag wherever he is.
A number of musicians and celebrities attended Michael Mahendere’s 40th birthday celebration, including Mukudzei “Jah Prayzah” Mukombe, Janet Manyowa, Peace “Baba Shupi” Ndlovu, Madam Boss, and United Family International Church pastor Hubert Chigumira.
Gospel artiste Tembalami, whose real name is Temba Tagwireyi, praised Mahendere for his continued excellence in the music industry, saying that Mahendere had set a standard for young gospel musicians to follow.