Zora music legend, Leonard Karikoga Zhakata has castigated government for failing to accord the late Chimurenga music icon Dickson Chingaira popularly known as Cde Chinx national hero status.
Comrade Chinx contributed immensely to the liberation struggle as his music rallied and mobilized guerrilla fighters.
In a memorial speech for the late music legend, Oliver Mtukudzi who succumbed to diabetes on Wednesday afternoon, Zhakata said he was disappointed when Cde Chinx was not accorded national hero status.
“I was very disappointed when Chix was not recognised as a national hero. Ideally I have always had Chinx, Thomas Mapfumo and Oliver Mtukudzi as the only musicians who deserve national hero status,” said the “Madam Boss hitmaker.
He also aired his joy over Tuku’s national hero recognition saying it would have been a great disservice to the arts sector had he not been granted the status.
“I am however happy that Tuku has been granted the status as it would have been a great disservice to our arts industry,” he said.
Zhakata is known for his politically charged lyrics that saw his music censored on national radio and television around 2000 when he released songs such as Sakunatsa and Mubikira that spoke against human rights abuses.
Chinx died in 2017 after a long battle with blood cancer and was buried at Glen Forest Memorial Park in Harare.
He was declared a Liberation war hero.
Meanwhile Tuku is set to be buried tomorrow at his Madziva home tomorrow.
