By Sindiso Dube
Controversial dancehall chanter and record label owner, Seh Calaz might have surprised Zanu PF after praising and openly showing his support for Citizens Coalition for Change leader Nelson Chamisa, a few days after a meeting with Zanu PF deputy secretary for Youth Affairs Tendai Chirau and other youth leaders.
Zanu PF has been on a mobilisation drive to lure musicians, socialites and sportsmen ahead of the harmonised elections in 2023.
Last February, President Emmerson Mnangagwa conferred liberation hero status to the late Zimdancehall star Soul Jah Love, ironically who was Seh Calaz’s rival. The late musician was interred at the Harare provincial heroes’ acre.
The move was seen as attempts to win the urban youth vote by Zanu PF.
On January 26, Chirau announced on social media that he had met with the Mbare-bred artiste, who runs Yala Nation Studios, in a bid to exchange notes.
“Calaz is passionate about sustainable empowerment of musicians and ghetto youth in general. Apart from nurturing talent Boss Yala or Calaz owns two studios in Mbare, which help talented ghetto youth record for free. I had the privilege of meeting him somewhere in Harare and we shared notes. Institutions, both private and public, have a role to play to promote local talent,” he said.
Seh Calaz, who is known for being critical of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government, did not share anything about the meeting on social media. Instead he went on to shower Nelson Chamisa with praises and described him as the man who will secure a future for suffering Zimbabweans.
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“I would like to wish Nelson Chamisa, Happy Birthday to the man with the task of securing a future for our generation and that of our children. May the Lord bless you with wisdom and patience and a long memory that will always remember how our generation suffered,” he posted.
Last year Boss Yala, as his legion of fans calls him, recorded a song which questioned Mnangagwa’s rule.
In a video, Seh Calaz was seen in the studio singing the song, with a Zimbabwean flag, symbolising his love and patriotism to the nation.
In the song, whose message is directed to Mnangagwa, the Mabhanditi supremo sings that the country is in a dire economic meltdown that has forced youths into starvation, unemployment and resorting to crime and drug abuse.
Seh Calaz, who hails from Mbare, also sings about how the youths are dying from the abuse of Guka, the illicit drug crystal meth. Guka Makafela is also referred to as Mutoriro.
Ironically, Mbare is famous for drug abuse which has had a large bearing on the lives of hordes of youths and left others mentally unstable.
The musician goes on to tell the “listening” President Mnangagwa that youths have for a long time cried foul over the country’s administration because the communique has fallen on deaf ears.
