We miss you dearly Leonard Dembo

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Today I come and present to you, readers, not as a musician, but as a son of the late musician Leonard Tazvivinga, aka Leonard Musorowenyoka Mavara Dembo.

By Tendai Dembo

Today I come and present to you, readers, not as a musician, but as a son of the late musician Leonard Tazvivinga, aka Leonard Musorowenyoka Mavara Dembo.

I will start by saying my father was a hero and he remains my hero. Born on December 29, 1959, my father’s history is so distorted that no one really knows much of his olden times. If there is anyone who claims to have documented the early history of my father, I believe it is false.

My grandfather (his dad) died while my father was only five years old, my aunt (his sister) was eight and my uncle (his brother) was three years old. They were abandoned and left to fend for themselves while they were very young and the rest is history.

Dembo’s history was documented first after recording the song Matsotsi in 1979 and his career was unstoppable until his death in 1996.

As a family, we miss him dearly day in day out as not a day goes without us discussing the great man. We miss you, dad, life is not the same without you, but we have tried to remain united in protection of your legacy.

Me and my brother Morgan are doing our best to keep dad’s legacy alive and we are lucky that some of his fans among his legions of followers like Dr Johannes Marisa are in full support of us. Dr Marisa had been supporting me as a musician and he has also chipped in to support the family, including our mother.

On the music front, the bar you set for us is a bit higher, but through hard work we hope to scale to dizzy heights as Barura Express and write our own piece of history.

We thank you, father, for the legacy and the talent that we have inherited from you.

May your soul rest in peace.