Corruption is a malignant cancer that has affected the arts industry for a very long time. According to Transparency International, “Corruption erodes trust, weakens democracy, hampers economic development and further exacerbates inequality, poverty, social division and environmental crisis”( https://www.transparency.org/en). In my view, the worst dimension of corruption is its anti-development thrust. It takes away the incentive to work hard, closes space for innovators by unfairly taking opportunities away from them and richly rewards the less deserving due to such practices as cronyism, patronage, nepotism, conflict of interest and embezzlement. Public officials in general, and especially those appointed to run the arts sector must not frustrate development by seeking personal gain at the expense of their professional duties. Artists expect sound, unbiased judgement and fair decision making from those they work with. Patriotic individuals who desire to see the sector develop, and are prepared to have less focus on self are needed in the administration of arts in Zimbabwe. In the past, corruption by public officials retarded the development of the arts sector. In 1995, Zimbabwe was blessed to win the bid to host the “SADC Music Festival” whose theme was Building SADC through Music. The Ministry of Arts, Sports and Culture, was given the mandate of coordinating the festival. Mr Stephen Chifunyise was the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Arts, Sports and Culture while Honourable Dr Witness Mangwende was the minister. Thousands of dollars were invested by government and thousands more were donated by member states to facilitate the successful hosting of the SADC music festival. The Ministry of Arts, Sports and Culture engaged the services of Ms Derby Metcalfe and Mr Joe Stableski, to coordinate the festival. In my opinion, it was not proper to give such an assignment to people who were merely promoters and did not have in-depth knowledge of the Zimbabwe music landscape. Mr Michael Francis Sekerani as chairman of the Zimbabwe Union of Musicians and I, as vice chairman, saw that the permanent secretary had taken a deliberate move, to use Ms Derby Metcalfe and Joe Stableski to source for more funding from embassies and non-governmental organisations in Zimbabwe using the colour of their skin as an advantage. This same trick was again employed by the permanent secretary when he used Emmanuel Bagoro as only a front in his large music empire. Mr Chifunyise was the sole owner of HIFA, CHIPAWO and Studio 263. The SADC Music Festival was a total disgrace for the country . It became a flop of the century. A few people who were close to Mr Chifunyise are the ones who benefited from this SADC Music Festival scam. The few close friends of Mr Chifunyise were Mr Ngugi wa Mirii , Mr Albert Nyathi, Mr Davis Guzha and Clayton Ndhlovu. Jenaguru Arts Centre mobilized musicians to demonstrate against the handling and failure of the SADC Music Festival in Zimbabwe. The demonstration was led by none other than Thomas Tafirenyika Mapfumo. We went to the Ambassador House , where the Ministry of Arts, Sports and Culture was housed. A selected group of six members led by Mr Thomas Mapfumo was granted an audience with the minister. The minister promised to take swift action assuring us, the representatives of the music industry, that the permanent secretary was likely to lose his job and go to prison. We believed the minister. But when months went by with the permanent secretary still firmly in his position, we went back to the minister’s office. What surprise greeted us when we were told point blank not to disturb the minister for he had more serious issues to attend to! The minister was on Mr Chifunyise’s side. The Zimbabwe music industry lost a gigantic opportunity to showcase Zimbabwe’s artistic talents and of reaping the rewards of being the host nation. The artists, and indeed, the whole nation were shamed, while the administrators who never cared fattened their wallets! That same year of 1995, Jenaguru Arts Centre decided to go it alone in sourcing for funds to build an arts centre. We deliberately avoided going through the Ministry of Arts, Sports and Culture, because we were sure Mr Chifunyise would work against the project. It was obvious that the permanent secretary wanted only his businesses to dominate the arts industry and would not give space to anyone who would dare challenge his ambitions. During those years, the National Arts Council was on the artists’ side and for that reason most (if not all) arts projects were being run from Mr Stephen Chifunyise’s office. The permanent secretary would not let the National Arts Council’s pro-artists director, Mr Charles Makari, carry out his mandate for fear he would use the Ministry’s resources to benefit artists rather than the permanent secretary’s personal projects. The Netherlands Embassy through their arts attache Ms Desiree Oft pledged to support the idea of building an arts centre in Harare. A finger-lunch meeting was organised by the embassy and many stakeholders in the arts sector were invited to the meeting where Jenaguru Arts Centre’s application for funds to build an arts centre was to be discussed. The Ministry of Arts, Sports and Culture was represented by Mr Stephen Chifunyise. After I presented my project proposal to all guests, all of them supported the project except the permanent secretary Mr Stephen Chifunyise, Mr Ngugi wa Mirii and Mr Clayton Ndhlovu. With opposition to the project being shown at the very high level of permanent secretary, we lost the funding because we did not provide a united front. Mr Stephen Chifunyise was later dismissed from his position by the late president of the first republic, because of negligence, allowing a neighbouring country to benefit from the US$14 million dollars which was supposed to have benefited the Zimbabwe music industry. Before Mr Stephen Chifunyise’s dismissal from his position , he used his power to frustrate and dismiss Mr Charles Makari from his position as director of the National Arts Council. He did this because the National Arts Council supported projects initiated by artsists. Each Jenaguru Festival was officially opened either by the National Arts Council director, Mr Charles Makari or the Chairman, Professor Solomon Mutsvairo. The Culture Fund was also controlled by Mr Stephen Chifunyise. As soon as the fund was formed, embezzlement of funds started. Most of the country’s international tours organised by the Ministry were either occupied by CHIPAWO or friends of the permanent secretary. Artists in Zimbabwe have for too many years suffered from “arts capture ” by a few individuals who are ruthless, immoral and self centred. We sincerely hope that this cry will not fall on deaf ears. It is not necessary for artists to go through predicaments such as I have described above. Measures must be employed to make sure there is no repeat of the same. Education must not be used as a weapon of undermining artists in Zimbabwe. You might have a PhD or a master’s degree, but you may find creating music very difficult. Leaders ought to respect artists. I also urge artists to improve themselves academically so as to raise their self esteem. They will also be able to articulate their issues better and will not accept to be belittled by some corrupt public officers.
