JAMAICAN reggae artist, Sizzla Kalonji’s much hyped tour has left a trail of confusion on the local entertainment scene as organisers trade accusations of mismanagement while some local musicians claim they were short-changed in the process. Kalonji performed at President Robert Mugabe’s birthday bash in Bulawayo last Friday before coming for a gig at the Harare International Conference Centre on Sunday.

But the tour will remain etched in the minds of some of the organisers for the wrong reasons as they feel that their partners in the project were not sincere and a number of questions about the tour have remained unanswered.

Kalonji played without a backing band; only singing along to a compact disc.

The major partners in the tour were Shumba Instrumentation, the Ministry of Information and Publicity and Zimbabwe Tourism Authority.

But there was apparent lack of cohesion on the manner the tour was handled.

Nhamo Chitimbe of Shumba Instrumentation who facilitated the tour claims that most of the things that happened during Kalonji’s tour were not scheduled while he also accuses the other partners of usurping his role as show coordinator.

Chitimbe says Sizzla was supposed to just make a brief appearance, not full performance, at the Bulawayo bash and claims the Harare show just sprouted from nowhere.

“I am the one who initiated the tour. I approached the Information ministry because they were organising the gala and I had my own schedule at hand,” explained Chitimbe.

“My assistant Tapiwa Madzima was supposed to direct all Sizzla’s activities here but I had to withdraw him from the programme because some of my partners had forcefully taken over that role.

“We ended up following their programme while we had agreed on a completely different approach with Sizzla.”

Chitimbe says the reggae musician’s tour was meant to be a courtesy visit in preparation for a big gig that he was expected to hold in the country on Independence day eve.

But ZTA spokesperson Sugar Chagonda said everything had gone according to plan as per the partners’ agreement.

“There was nothing wrong in the manner the tour was handled. We were partners and everything was done according to paper,” said Chagonda.

“I do not know what Chitimbe means with such claims but there was no confusion at all. We paid for his air ticket and we hosted the Harare gig as one of the partners.”

Chitimbe made it clear that he had not wanted to deal with ZTA but the tourism authority had entered the deal through the Ministry of Information and Publicity.

Sizzla played without a backing band due to a similar misunderstanding. Chitimbe says he was not supposed to perform, ZTA says he did not need a backing band while the ministry says it was due to lack of rehearsal time.

Bash coordinator Retired Major Anywhere Mutambudzi had contacted Transit Crew to back Sizzla but he says the plan was aborted after realising that the band would not have enough time to rehearse with Sizzla.

But Transit Crew business manager Professor Fred Zindi said there was a mix-up caused by ZTA’s Belinda Mutinhiri.

“After agreeing with the information ministry that we would back Sizzla, Belinda came to us saying she would take three members from our group and another three from Mic Inity’s Hotter Fire but I refused. I told her that the arrangement would split the bands and we opted out of the deal,” said Zindi.

A member of Hotter Fire confirmed that he knew about such an arrangement but Mic Inity professed ignorance on the issue. Belinda could not be reached for comment.

BY GODWIN MUZARI

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