INFORMATION ministry permanent secretary Nick Mangwana has stirred controversy and divided attention between music fans following his tweet endorsing musician Jah Prayzah.
Jah Prayzah is set to launch a double album on May 12 and May 13 in Harare’s Belgravia Sports Club and Bulawayo’s Queens Sports Club, respectively.
The albums are titled Maita Baba and Chiremerera.
In a Tweet, Mangwana said the artist has to release two albums to compete against himself.
“I think in Zimbabwe there is only one musician who is now in a class of his own that the only competition against him is from himself. Hence he has to drop two albums to compete against each other,” said Mangwana.
Social media users accused Mangwana of trying to divert fans from recent attacks on Winky D to Jah Prayzah’s launch.
“We have artists who have released albums this year, how then is Jah Prayzah a lone artist with no competition,” a social media user said.
Another social media user quizzed Mangwana’s conduct.
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“Is it even ethical for a government official to say such a thing on a public platform like Twitter,” she said.
Commenting on the issue, music analyst Plot Mhako said Mangwana’s sentiments further polarise the music industry.
“In his personal capacity he can say that but as an official representing a whole ministry somehow further polarises and escalates the polarisation that exists between Winky D and Jah Prayzah because subliminally people will interpret it like that,” Mhako said.
“I think it’s a bit unfortunate; he could have talked about the artist without trying to throw a jab at others. I find the comment a bit unfortunate, unnecessary and alarmist in a way.”
Jah Prayzah described the coming event as his biggest ever album launch.
“Are you ready for my biggest ever album launch? Happy to have my family Gateway Stream Media on the launch,” said Jah Prayzah on a Facebook Post.
Jah Prayzah's last released an album in 2021 titled Gwara which featured songs Bvumbamira, Takarasima, Nyeredzi, Boi Boi, Mhaka and Ndichiyamwa.
Jah Prayzah’s albums became the biggest releases of the year after Winky D launched Eureka Eureka on January 1 at the HICC.
