A 40-YEAR lifespan in the gospel music industry is no joke and definitely deserves an honour.
BY WINSTONE ANTONIO OWN CORRESPONDENT
For veteran gospel singer Machanic Manyeruke, tomorrow could have been a memorable day, befitting a royal salute for his dedication to the genre he popularised in Zimbabwe.
Unfortunately, it has turned to be a big wait, actually Waiting for Godot, like in the book of the same title where Vladimir and Estragon waited endlessly and in vain for the arrival of someone named Godot.
Manyeruke indeed looked forward to this day with high expectations of receiving a Jaguar XF from Pride Africa Network (PAN) as a promised honour for his four-decade-long music career.
PAN director Shepherd Sirewu made an empty promise to the 71-year-old Manyeruke, but the renowned gospel musician would have to wait a bit longer, if not forever, to get what he was promised and never solicited for.
The glamorous event was scheduled for the Harare International Conference Centre (HICC) where Manyeruke and his family, including his son, popular dance hall chanter Guspy Warrior, born Emmanuel, could have been preparing in excitement to receive the keys for the luxurious vehicle.
Sadly, there is no such event tomorrow and probably Manyeruke would not be amused, so are the legions of his diehard followers.
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Speaking to NewsDay in November last year at a gospel concert dubbed Manyeruke: Celebrating 40 Years in Gospel Music held at HICC, Sirewu said his organisation had been pushed to honour Manyeruke with the luxurious car for his outstanding contribution in the marginalised gospel music industry.
“We have decided to honour our old man and encourage young people to also sing gospel rather than rush into secular music because of cash,” Sirewu said then. “We are going to hand over the vehicle to him on December 19 during another event organised for him on that day.”
On that same day, hundreds of gospel music lovers thronged the venue, joining several gospel musicians to pay tribute to the gospel maestro.
In a clear act of deception, a similar car to the one Manyeruke was promised was being displayed at the venue, making many believe that Sirewu was an honourable man who would act according to his words.
To make matters worse, on that same day, Sirewu made Manyeruke believe in him by even going on to praise him in his comment to this publication.
“For over 40 years, I have toiled through thick and thin, but have managed to be very consistent with my gospel music.
“This is why God has used His people (referring to Sirewu) to recognise and honour my effort that has inspired so many gospel musicians today,” Manyeruke said.
“I would also like to thank PAN chief executive officer Shepherd Sirewu for the wonderful gift of a motor vehicle, which I never dreamt I could get in my music career and may God bless them all.”
However, when December approached, Sirewu could not stick to his word as he shifted the dates to March 15 which has also arrived with claims that they had decided to make the event bigger than their initial idea.
“We had certain ideas when we initially planned the event, but along the way new ideas developed and we decided to make the event bigger, attracting pastors and gospel musicians from outside the country,” Sirewu said.
However, speaking to NewsDay, Sirewu had yet another excuse for his failure to hand over the car. He said the economic landscape had become tough for him to fulfil the pledge alone as some corporates had let him down.
“We failed to put things in order in December due to budget issues and we thought by March the economy would have improved, but as it stands nothing has improved, hence we proposed to move the handover of the car to a later date yet to be announced,” Sirewu said.
“We thought we could even do fund-raising projects, but with the bad publicity I received from the media pertaining to this issue, it is proving difficult to even host the events because many people I used to work with have since snubbed me.”
Quizzed whether Manyeruke was going to get the Jaguar XF or it was a deal closed, Sirewu said they would honour their promise someday.
“We are in the midst of fulfilling our pledge, only at a later date. We will be honouring Manyeruke in good faith and he is well informed about all these developments,” Sirewu added.
“Our agreement with Manyeruke was that we were going to host a fundraising dinner for him and from the proceeds, the car would be purchased. Since we have not hosted the dinner, there is no way he could get the car.”
Contacted for comment, Manyeruke said he had not been informed of the the developments by Sirewu.
“If he is the one who told you that the ceremony has been moved further, I then have nothing to say since they are doing it as per their plans,” Manyeruke said. “If you are waiting for something as a recipient of a gift, there is not much you can do or say other than wait. Maybe there are certain things that have not gone well with their planning.”
