TIME EUROPE
May 1, 2000 VOL. 155 NO. 17
Zimbabwe's Songs of Protest
By SIMON ROBINSON
The 1970s war of independence made Zimbabwean musician Thomas Mapfumo a star. He is the creator of Chimurenga (meaning struggle in Shona), a style which blends classic Shona sounds with Western rock and uses lyrics full of ambiguity and traditional proverbs. In songs like 'The Plight of the Rural People' and 'Send Your Children to War', Mapfumo sang about everyday problems like poverty and hunger as well as Zimbabweans' fight for freedom. At the height of his popularity the minority white regime banned his music and jailed him for three months.
Twenty-five years later, he's at it again. This time the target is President Robert Mugabe and his increasingly unpopular ZANU-PF government. Mapfumo's most recent album, released last December, is entitled Chimurenga Explosion "because people are realizing this country is collapsing." The album's two big hits — 'Mamvemve' (Tatters) and 'Disaster' — detail the grim state of Zimbabwe's economy and society. "There's no rule of law any more. People are just getting killed and the government doesn't care," says Mapfumo, 53. Though the government has ordered radio stations not to play the two songs, the album is the best-selling in Zimbabwe. "He sings the truth and people love him for it," says Deeri, a Harare taxi driver who won't give his surname for fear of harassment by government supporters.
"In weak democracies, musicians are like journalists," says Alpha Blondy, an Ivorian reggae star whose songs about corruption and racial division angered the Ivory Coast government in the lead-up to the country's military coup last December. "We are the voice of the voiceless." Mapfumo is untroubled by the ban on his new songs. "It makes me feel victorious because I know [the politicians] have actually understood the message," he says, sitting in the living room of his neat suburban Harare home. "We are trying to remind the corrupt that that's not the way to run Africa."
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May 1, 2000
COVER
Zimbabwe in Flames
Robert Mugabe has kept his grip on power by manipulation and intimidation. Now, it's all spinning out of control
Voice of Protest
Despite a ban on radio play of Thomas Mapfumo's latest song hits, detailing the grim state that Zimbabwe is in, his album is a best-seller
Viewpoint
The hired thugs who do Mugabe's bidding are threatening to hold peace a hostage to autocratic power
Web Resources
Links to web resources on Zimbabwe, including country facts, breaking news and land reform issues
TIME TRAIL
Zimbabwe
Twenty years after independence, Zimbabwe is still riven by political and economic turmoil
POLL
Crisis in Zimbabwe
How should the International community respond to the violence in Zimbabwe?
EUROPE
A New Arms Race?
Once consigned to the cold war trash heap, a U.S. national missile defense system — if revived and deployed — could shatter key accords with Moscow and renew the arms race
The End for D'Alema
Italy's first ex-communist Prime Minister is crushed by center-right election gains
Innocent No More
After symbolic bombings in France, Breton nationalists claim a life at a McDonald's outlet
Viewpoint
Going for the throat is Vladimir Putin's style
BUSINESS
Nordic Pace-setter
Finland's Merita-Nordbanken leads the way in Internet and mobile phone banking
A TV Triumph
Broadcasters and producers join the Web and go global
FASHION
The Suit is Dead; Long Live the Suit
Bankers dressing like Internet executives create the biggest threat to the suit in 100 years. Can it survive?
DEPARTMENTS
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World Watch
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