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Pirates pounce on Mukanya again!

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SOON after Chimurenga music maestro Thomas “Mukanya” Mapfumo expressed shock at the levels of piracy in the country, one of his songs — Chauya Chauya — off his forthcoming album started selling on the streets of Harare.

SOON after Chimurenga music maestro Thomas “Mukanya” Mapfumo expressed shock at the levels of piracy in the country, one of his songs — Chauya Chauya — off his forthcoming album started selling on the streets of Harare.

BY WINSTONE ANTONIO

Chimurenga Music Company spokesperson, Blessing Vava yesterday said they were very disappointed about the development and had since instituted an investigation to determine how the song could have been leaked.

“It has come to our attention that one of the songs that we are still working on for our next album has been leaked and has gone viral on social networks. The song, called Chauya Chauya by Thomas Mapfumo, is an unfinished product and is still being mastered as part of our next project,” he said.

“We were deeply shocked when we learnt of the developments as the song went viral on social media. It was only yesterday (Monday) when we discovered that it is now on pirated CDs with a couple of other (old) songs purporting to be the latest album from Mukanya.”

The illegal release came barely few hours after Mukanya, who is in the country for the much awaited Bira concert, had expressed his disappointment over the levels of piracy in the country during a meeting with Sport, Arts and Recreation minister Kazembe Kazembe on Monday.

Vava said piracy had gone out hand because of weak legislation and lack of will to fight the scourge. He suggested the need for tough laws, including heavy fines, imprisonment, criminalisation of sending pirated songs, confiscation of equipment and vehicles used in producing pirated music and registration of printers of CDs.

For many years, musicians have been complaining about piracy, but the authorities have not moved in as quickly as the artistes would have wanted.