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Protest singer to release scorching 'Zimbabwe circus' album
Harriet Chigege
August 17, 2008

As the political situation in Zimbabwe gets tougher it's also getting tougher for Viomak who has taken freedom of speech to a higher and reputable level. ‘Zimbabwe circus', one of Viomak's forthcoming music albums has it all. The self explanatory protest music album which she composed and wrote will be available anytime from now. ‘Zimbabwe circus' is as controversial, as the politics of Zimbabwe which she compares to a circus and as controversial as her music. The album itself is also a ‘circus' in a different way .It is loaded with unique themes laced with rich truthful lyrics, and is very different from her Happy birthday albums. In an unusual and expected move, Viomak who has always refused to oppress her voice, and strictly sings about the political situation in Zimbabwe composed the songs which despise both Mugabe and Tsvangirai's leadership qualities in different ways, a move that will definitely take artistic freedom in Zimbabwe to a new level whilst creating more enemies and fans for the protest singer who compares MDC and Zanu PF to 6 and 9 when she says:

"Mugabe is a bad person and bad leader. Tsvangirai is a good person but is not a good leader. Whilst some protest musicians have taken political sides it is very healthy and important for me to remain non partisan otherwise the people we sing for will be deprived of the truth since pro political party musicians tend to be biased and speak only good about the masters that they sing for .In many known cases they exaggerate and give masses wrong impressions which is not good for socio-political progress. For example, the MDC-T mayor of Chitungwiza, Israel Marange was arrested for corruption and it is important that someone sings about it, otherwise it will be water under the bridge.I understand that this album will give birth to a new breed of haters since Zimbabweans are generally truth haters, but with time people will understand and appreciate my stance."

As Viomak continues to take Zimbabwe protest art to a different level, she gave a brief speech at the launch of the freedom to create prize launched by Article 19 and ArtVenture in London on 1 July 2008. The singer who is also featuring on the freedom to create prize site as one of the contenders for the prize at says it is important that Africans take freedom of expression seriously since the barbarism that is rampant in our society is mainly caused by severe lack of tolerance for one's views and opinions . However, Viomak was quick to point out that whilst she advocates for freedom of expression, there are certain limits to how far a normal being can go. Viomak is also raising the flag high for Zimbabwe when she performs at the Birmingham Arts festival on the 14th of September 2008. The singer, whose stories were banned in the Zimbabwe standard newspaper, after she suspected one of their reporters Vusumuzi Sifile-Sibanda of being a CIO, is very pleased that whilst some Zimbabwean journalists continue to shun her work, she receives a lot of respect, support and encouragement from non Zimbabwean media.

The 10 track album, whose songs are listed below, is a variety of Zimbabwean beats, the instruments of which were done by live session musicians in Zimbabwe at a popular recording studio. The change highlights another shift of her music from digital instrument recording used in her previous albums to live instruments. This album shows the singer's real self. I happened to listen to all the samples of the rough tracks and my personal assumption is that this type of thought provoking music will make Zimbabweans wonder if they are doing the right thing or not. That's the purpose of art I suppose. To reach people's minds, whilst modeling behaviors and shaping beliefs.

1. Xenophobia
2. Dr Gonoriya
3. Chinja maitiro
4. MOM (Memorandum of Misunderstanding)
5. Johnnie Walker
6. Dutch embassy
7. Mabhinya
8. 6 na 9
9. Tipeiwo
10. Zimbabwe circus

‘Zimbabwe circus' is a temporary shift away from political gospel, her usual type of protest music, but is a political album which she composed and wrote, after realizing that some opposition politicians were getting away with all sorts of not so good behavior whilst almost everyone's eyes and thoughts are focused on Zanu PF's evilness and incompetence. Tsvangirai's indecisive nature which Viomak is convinced is a disastrous quality in a leader is one reason that inspired her to compose the album .The other reason she said is to expose some of Tsvangirai's supporters' unbecoming behavior which should not be tolerated .The album will definitely be a great and interesting innovation in a country where voices of the voiceless are repressed not only by Zanupf and its supporters but also by some of Tsvangirai's dedicated fans ,who Viomak calls the CIO's of tomorrow. In the song ‘Mabhinya' (Thugs), Viomak calls on Mugabe and Tsvangirai to control their thugs, many of who terrorize and verbally abuse internet revelers who speak against their presidents.

"I was shocked and frightened when one Tsvangirai supporter said, dying for Tsvangirai is his choice which should be respected, and it's his democratic right. When I queried his stupidity he said to me, "Now please concentrate on taking your anti-retrovirals". I am convinced that Zimbabwe is in a political crisis. Whilst many people think that they are fighting against ZanuPF's Chinotimbas, they are also fighting for MDC Chinotimbas in new formats.

"This supporter's statement is one of the many thuggish and irresponsible statements by many MDC supporters. Some of the supporters are so barbaric and violent minded and I wonder what will become of Zimbabwe incase Tsvangirai becomes president. Some MDC supporters treat Tsvangirai like a God and use all sorts of foul language to verbally abuse those who speak against their president. This is very wrong. If such kind of fanaticism is not stopped it will become a deadly disease whose remedy is bloodshed, rape, corruption and all the bad things that we see in Zanu PF now. Zimbabwe doesn't need this Zanu PF mentality anymore. Moreso there is only one God and treating leaders like God should be despised at all costs. If MDC is also fighting for the so-called democracy then they should respect responsible freedom of speech and opinion by allowing us to free our voices and our minds. Sometime back some of the MDC supporters even threatened me saying I should stop singing protest songs because the genre was for MDC cadres only" she said.

For the above reason, Viomak said she also composed and wrote the song 6 na 9 which she compares to Zanu PF and MDC in order to highlight the similarities in the two parties' differences. After listening to all the rough samples of the tracks on the album, I am convinced that this type of music will open doors for artistic competence that doesn't only reveal the significance of freedom of expression, but that also reveals the skill of knowing what to sing about and how to sing it without fear. One only hopes that in case events go otherwise and allow Tsvangirai to fulfill his dream of becoming the president of Zimbabwe all protest musicians will be accorded the airplay they all deserve on state radio. With some singers' airplay already guaranteed one starts wondering if non- partisan protest singers who sing about political thugs will be accorded the airplay that they also deserve as Zimbabwean singers. The more you tell the truth the more your enemies multiply, so they say. Time will tell.

The song,' Xenophobia, is an English song that mourns the immigrants and Zimbabweans who were burnt and killed in South Africa in May 2008. With lyrics such as the ones below, Viomak hopes to let Thabo Mbeki know that she has lost the little respect that she had for him.

"I cannot believe what happened to them, South Africa remember Zimbabwe and apartheid. Thabo Mbeki be ashamed of yourself. You're, a failure, a coward, a loser you will never be forgiven. If you're a human being you should understand that everybody matters. You are a worthless, a useless leader you will never be forgiven".

The second song, ‘Dr Gonoriya' (pronounced Dr Gonorrhea), reminds the governor of the reserve bank of Zimbabwe Dr Gono who she refers to as Dr Gonoriya, of Viomak‘s other song ‘Gono bvisa father zero' (Gono remove Father Zero) released in 2007 in which she reminded him that the three zeros that he removed from the currency are not the problem, but Mugabe is the father zero who should be removed from power. The new song,'Dr Gonoriya' tells the governor who recently removed ten zeros from the currency that, his failure to take advice has made him repeat the mistake he did before.

According to Viomak, the problem is not the zeros but Mugabe is, otherwise as long as Mugabe and Zanupf are ruling the zeros will come back and he will continue removing them until kingdom come.

Zimbabwe political parties are locked in talks after signing the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) agreement. However, Viomak prefers to call the agreement MOM (Memorandum of Misunderstanding), thereby naming the fourth song on her album MOM. The lyrics which complain about why anyone would think of uniting with an inhuman murderer and thug, who caused so much harm and pain to mankind is an issue of great concern to her.

"How can human beings and inhuman beings work together .It's like mixing water with oil. Why would someone in their normal senses even think of talking with Mugabe and hope to come up with a progressive move. Mugabe is a mad man whose language and actions are best understood by psychiatrics" she said.

The song Johnnie Walker was composed and written in such a jocular manner such that listeners will understand the strong message in the song without getting angry. The song was inspired by the six negotiators of MOU who drank Johnnie walker (Johnnie Mufambi), and refused to stay in a three star hotel complaining that it was not luxurious enough whilst many Zimbabweans who they are promising heaven on earth, sleep in ground star hotels (outside), and drink home brewed beer like tototo, seven days and the poor man's beer, scud.

In Viomak's words:

"The title track ‘Zimbabwe circus' summarises the fact that Zimbabwe's mess is like a circus. Everything seems to be mixed up. Political parties are making a whole lot of errors, stupid and selfish decisions. A lot is going on, so much that it is difficult to tell what will happen next. To sum it up, Zanu pf remains a party of unrepentant crooks and evil doers, but funny enough Tsvangirai and Mutambara agreed to talk with them by signing the (MOU) agreement. The signing of MOU is a circus on its own. Why should people sign to agree to talk? As if that is not enough the talks included negotiators who were not voted for by the people. The fact that MDC Mutambara is involved in the talks makes me wonder why there were votes in the first place if those who failed to qualify for the presidential run off are involved. That said, why did Tsvangirai agree to be involved in the talks that included Mutambara, only for his supporters to cry foul after rumours that Mutambara had signed a power sharing deal with Mugabe started spreading? It's all their leader's fault who agreed to go ahead with the talks that allowed Mutambara to be part of the deal when he was not supposed to be in it according to the logic behind it all. So they should stop terrorizing and blaming Mutambara, but they should blame their leader for not querying Mutambara's presence. The fact that Tsvangirai did not raise any concerns about it implies that all was good making Mutambara eligible for any post granted to him by those involved .It's all mixed up and senseless."

The lyrics of the song give all the political leaders a fair share of the circus cake, as the song unfolds.

"Zimbabwe icircus Zimbabwe icircus (Zimbabwe is a circus, Zimbabwe is circus)
Zanu PF icircus Zanu PF icircus ( Zanu PFis a circus, Zanu PF is a circus)
MDC icircus ,MDC icircus ( MDC is a circus, MDC is a circus)
Mavambo icircus Mavambo icircus ( Mavambo is a circus, Mavambo is a circus)

‘Tipeiwo' is the only pure gospel song on the album, and it asks God to bless Zimbabwe with good leaders who are always there for the people of Zimbabwe, musicians who sing for the people of Zimbabwe, workers who work for the people of Zimbabwe, fighters who fight for the people of Zimbabwe and so on.

Viomak is still set to release her traditional Happy Birthday album on 21 February 2009 to mark Mugabe's 85th birthday. The songs on the album listed below are as good as it comes. From the titles it's all fireworks.

1. Gukurahundi
2. Mavhoterapapi
3. Uchafa uri wega
4. Gore iro
5. Baba vaEdward
6. Matibili wauraya
7. Operation Matibili
8. Musaregerere JOC
9. Batai mutonge
10. Broke -buttock blues

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