PROMINENT musician Oliver Mtukudzi had distanced himself from a ‘biography’ written about him by former company publicist Shepherd Mutamba, describing the snippets of the book which were recently published in the local media as damaging to his reputation and family.
In a statement yesterday, Tuku, as he is widely known threatened to take legal action against Mutamba whom he accused of divulging some sensitive family matters without seeking his consent.
Here is the full version of the statement:
“I have been reading with great dismay the excerpts from a so called ‘biography’ of me by Shepherd Mutamba who used to work with Tuku Music as a documenter for our website and other publicity materials.
“About two years ago, Mutamba came to me and told me that while he was working for us he had been simultaneously writing a ‘biography’ about me, and wanted to publish it. I was taken aback as he had never mentioned this to me before, but I said to him that if he was going to publish a book based on intimate information he had acquired while working with us, some of which he had acquired in confidence, during conversations with members of my family and team, he needed to give it to me to read first. He agreed to this and said he would bring the manuscript to me when it was ready.
“Shortly afterwards he started becoming more and more distant and then announced to us that he wanted to take a year “sabbatical” to study and write exams. We agreed happily and that was the last we saw of him. We invited him to several Tuku Music events, including our Tribute dinner at the Rainbow Towers last year, but he did not respond.
“Then two weeks ago I started reading with utter amazement the excerpts from his ‘biography’ that the Daily News started to print. I felt betrayed by a man I had trusted so much and brought into my inner circle.
“As a man, I am not perfect. I have my strengths and weaknesses, like anyone else, but why would anyone write a book, which from what I have read so far has so many made-up ‘facts’, half-truths and false interpretations of my life? Why would someone who was warmly welcomed into our camp and treated with great respect want to pull me down like this?
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“Everything about the book that I have seen so far is an attack on me. Nothing positive at all. Is that Mutamba’s summary of who I am as a man?
“You can imagine the distress that this has caused my family. If he wanted to pull me down, why attack my family too? “We are currently consulting with our lawyers on the action to take, but we are moving on with our vision as Tuku Music and won’t let these recent developments slow us down.”
