ORGANISER of the annual Green Concert, Dereck Mpofu, is contemplating quitting after this year’s third edition of the concert held at 7 Arts Theatre in Avondale, Harare, flopped, exposing his poor organising of the event.
BY WINSTONE ANTONIO
The concert, which serves as an environmental awareness campaign through music and dance, failed to live up to its billing with foreign acts who were billed to headline the event “snubbing” it.
Two of the three foreign acts, Nigerian jazz singer-cum-guitarist Kunle Ayo and South African singer Ringo Madlingozi did not turn up for the concert despite being fully paid, according to Mpofu.
Mpofu’s poor planning saw the concert hanging in the balance with a day to go amid revelations that the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) had advised him to register as a promoter if the concert was to go ahead.
NACZ, in accordance with the Act of 1985 read in tandem with Statutory Instrument 87 of 2006, requires anyone willing to host music shows to be registered as a promoter.
Mpofu, who is the Goodwill Ambassador for the Water Conservation and Zero Littering Campaign, however, managed to register as a promoter in the final hour, making it legal for them to hold the concert, but it was too late as the majority of potential sponsors had already pulled out.
This is not the first time that Mpofu has been at loggerheads with NACZ for the failure to meet the arts body’s requirements to host a music show. Early this year, he organised another event, The Pink Concert, which also faced the same fate, while his argument was that he had no intentions of becoming a promoter and as an artiste, defining himself as a promoter would be an injustice to what he stands for.
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“I believe in the mandate of the NACZ in regularising arts bodies and fostering arts development in Zimbabwe. We shall find a permanent solution to this, including accommodating philanthropists who use arts to make a difference in society,” Mpofu said.
Speaking to NewsDay ahead of the concert, Mpofu had promised a bigger and better event from the previous editions, claiming he had managed to lure more sponsors and partners, but at the last-minute could not fulfill his promise.
While Winnie Khumalo managed to grace the event having arrived in the country from her South Africa base hours after the scheduled starting time of the concert, her availability could not save the situation that later resulted in her performing in an empty venue as some of the few guests who had graced the event had already left when she took to the stage around 1am.
Local Afro-jazz singer Alexio Kawara, who was also on the line-up of performers, did not perform as Mpofu’s last-minute attempts to pay the artiste failed. Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Mpofu admitted that his failure to clear the event with NACZ on time was a huge blow.
“As you all know, we pulled all the stops to make sure this event could go ahead. We managed to register with National Arts Council, our mother body, as per requirement, but I think we should have sorted that issue earlier than we did,” Mpofu said.
“I cannot say much at the moment. Our wish is to make it for our fans and all those with tickets, they must keep them safe as they will be used for a probably rescheduled gig.
“We are yet to talk to the artistes who failed to come. We are trying to work an alternative that we can have them in Zimbabwe for another date. We had fully paid them and according to the contract we signed, they cannot refund us the money.”
Mpofu has since apologised for the mayhem that rocked the concert.
“The founder and organiser of the Green Concert would like to apologise to all stakeholders and fans of the Green Concert for Ringo and Kunle Ayo’s failure to attend this year’s edition of the concert. The artistes’ failure was caused by reasons that were beyond our control,” he said.
“All our artistes were booked on flyafrica airline, but it was unfortunate that there were some glitches that delayed their 4pm flight to 6pm and then later cancelled. After the development, our artistes’ managers only managed to secure Winnie Khumalo’s seat on Air Zimbabwe, which was a miracle.” Mpofu said he was the most disappointed with what happened.
“Being my own worst critic, moments like these make one to reconsider. I have faithfully, diligently sacrificed myself to the nation as an environmental champion over the better part of the past years,” he said.
“I know insinuations as to my credibility shall be judged on one incident and not years of good work. Based on these opinions, one wonders if I am still worthy to be called the Green Ambassador. Maybe it is high time somebody took over the reins and steered the ship in a better direction,” Mpofu said.
Meanwhile, local acts who shared the stage with Khumalo include Mpofu himself, dancehall chanter Ras Caleb and Wensy Mupostori, among others, did not disappoint. It was, however, BaShupi and dancehall chanter Spider Man, who was not even part of the line-up of the performers, who stole the show.
The duo, who performed before Khumalo, was a marvel to watch, putting up top-notch performances.
During BaShupi’s performance, guests, among them Zanu PF commissar Saviour Kasukuwere, Christopher and Monica Mutsvangwa, could be seen dancing.
During the intervals, revellers were kept in stiches with hilarious jokes from the comedian of the moment, Uncle Ritchie (born Richard Matimba), the man behind Zvinombonyatsofamba Sei and ZimAsset jokes.
The concert was held under the theme Vision 2025 — The Dream is Possible, It Begins With You, It begins With Me.
