THE celebratory mood at Sulumani Chimbetu’s awards celebration party held at Jazz 105 on Wednesday was dented at the last minute when his cousin Tryson broke one of the trophies.
Report by Silence Charumbira
Sulu’s eight trophies for different awards were on display near the stage when Tryson and other family members were called to the front for the cutting of the cake. As Tryson admired the awards, he touched a trophy for a Victor’s Award that Sulu won last year and it fell and broke.
In an interview with NewsDay yesterday, Tryson apologised for the mishap and emphasised that he did not intentionally break the trophy.
“It was never intentional,” he said.
“People should not misinterpret the mistake. I am not jealous of my brother. If I was jealous, I wouldn’t have attended the celebrations in the first place.” Sulu’s public relations manager, Joe Nyamungoma, also dismissed possibilities of a deliberate action.
“That was a pure accident and it should be taken as such,” said Nyamungoma.
The colourful party was attended by Information minister Webster Shamu and his wife, Tourism minister Walter Mzembi, Savannah Tobacco boss Adam Molai, Simon Chimbetu’s widow Angela, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority officials, among many other guests.
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In his remarks, Mzembi showered Sulu with praise and assured him of a performance slot at the forthcoming United Nations World Tourism Organisation General Assembly in August. A number of renowned international artistes like Salif Keita and Zahara are expected to perform at the event.
Shamu, who was the guest of honour, congratulated Sulu for the nine awards he has won so far, comprising eight National Arts Merit Awards and a Victor’s Award. Angela thanked Sulu for the love that he has for the family.
“We are what we are because of Sulu’s love and care,” she said to a thunderous applause.
Jabavu Drive, who were the main entertainers for the night, put up a stellar performance that had the crowds dancing for the early parts of the event.
The crowd went berserk when Sulu went on stage before he left the reins for the much-improved Barura Express led by Morgan and Tendai Dembo.
To cap it all was the master of ceremonies Themba Mukanda who threw in hilarious jokes at intervals keeping the audience entertained.
However, there was another unfortunate incident when an apparently drunk Esau Ganizani, also known as DJ December or Dhiziri, left the stage in a huff with T-shirts that were supposed to be given away to the fans.
He was representing Cellone Electronics who were one of the sponsors of the event. When Mukanda felt Dhiziri was wasting time with an irrelevant speech, he went on stage and tried to assist him to give away the T-shirts. Dhiziri was not amused and stormed off the stage with the T-shirts leaving Mukanda dumbfounded.
Dhiziri was later bashed by security personnel at Jazz 105 after he threatened to pull down Cellone Electornics banners that were at the venue’s entrance
