[By Gregory Kaputula]
Music is a form of communication that plays a functional role in most African societies. African music is as diverse as its cultures and people.
In Zambia, songs accompany marriage ceremonies, birth ceremonies, rites of passage ceremonies, hunting expeditions, funeral ceremonies, graduation ceremonies, and political meetings and activities. Music is often used to pay respects to good spirits, the dead and ancestors. You may have seen Ghana’s dancing pallbearers, a crew of funeral performers lifting the mood at funerals in Ghana with flamboyant coffin-carrying dances.
Families are increasingly paying for their services to send their loved ones off in style. Funerals in Africa are more like public celebrations, the mourners celebrate the life of the deceased through song and dance.
Zambians are said to be a people that sing and dance during happy moments and during sorrowful moments. They dance when in high spirits, satisfied, disturbed, pained, serious, troubled, hopeless, miserable, unhappy, discouraged, down, upset, depressed, and/or disappointed.
As African democracy is growing and evolving, music is increasingly being used in the electoral processes to deliver messages about political candidates, parties, manifestos and importantly to attract potential voters. Music is proving to be a powerful communication tool especially when communicating political messages to both existing and potential supporters and voters.
The use of music is widespread in Southern African political activities. In South Africa, the African National Congress (ANC) is on record of engaging the power of song and dance in its political engagements throughout its long history. The same can be said about some political parties in Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Zambia.
The past three Zambian general elections (2011, 2015 and 2016) speak directly to the fact that music has had a big say in who wins an election in Zambia.
Music has been influential and an unstoppable force in the victors of the past elections. In fact, some voters have openly come out confessing that their voting was influenced by the songs and not the quality of the candidates or a party. The power and influence of music cannot be underestimated in Zambian politics today. Even the change from UNIP to the MMD was somewhat influenced by songs.
Peter Kalumba Chishala (PK), who was born in 1957 and died in 1996 stirred controversy when he released his third album entitled ‘Common Man.’ This particular song ‘common man’ was labelled a protest song against the then president Kenneth Kaunda and his UNIP government.
PK, as he was popularly referred to and adored by his admirers, was a brilliant and a talented musician who became a topic in bars and households over some of his social controversial songs like, ‘Ba Pastor and Church Elder.’ Like his previous albums, Common Man had some controversial songs like Mu cibolya umwali batata lelo mwalila akoni. These songs were well received in political circles especially after the 1991 multi-party elections.
And in his book titled ‘Zambian Music Legends’ Leonard Koloko writes that the song Common Man painted a true picture of how common people in Zambia were leading their lives by simply using lunch hour blues as the main backdrop. The song was loved for its accuracy at this portrayal. Most people could not afford a decent meal and would spend lunch time lying down on the lawns or playing isolo (draft) or window shopping. The few that could afford any meals settled for buns, groundnuts, sweet potatoes, cassava, a cob of maize, and Maheu or Munkoyo drinks. A decent meal of nshima was elusive because of the escalating cost of living and hence the passionate appeal to ‘Mother’ (the trade unions) to talk to the ‘Father’ (the Kaunda government) to straighten up things in the economy and the country at large.
P K Chishala’s Common Man coincided with the advent of the Third Republic on the Zambian political arena.
In September 2019, the Luapula provincial administration, through the Luapula Expo Heritage Reconstruction and Development Programme, honoured ‘Professor’ P. K. Chishala posthumously. The Luapula Expo also dignified Chishala’s resting place at Chingola Central Cemetery by laying a respectable tombstone.
In 2011, the Patriotic Front under the leadership of late president, Michael Chilufya Sata who was also the founding leader of the party, jumped on the ‘Donchi Kubeba’ mantra to spread their political campaign messages. In its literal meaning ‘Donchi Kubeba’ means ‘don’t tell them or don’t say a thing.’ The slogan ‘Don’t Kubeba’ is believed to be a brain child of Dr Guy Scott who was Mr Sata’s long trusted political ally, while the song ‘Donchi Kubeba’ was composed by musician Wesley Chibambo, popularly known as Dandy Crazy. Dandy Crazy coined his phrase from Dr Scott’s ‘Don’t Kubeba.’ This can be seen from the similarities in the wording and meaning of the two phrases.
Of course, ‘Donchi Kubeba’ took over the show because it was a hit song from the word go. Every club and pub was playing the song and patrons could not resist the temptation of dancing and singing along whenever it was played. The song became the national anthem for taxi and bus drivers. This was the story in both rural and urban areas.
Interestingly, just like ‘Common Man’ was not meant for the MMD, ‘Donchi Kubeba’ was not meant for the Patriotic Front party. The Patriotic Front jumped on the bandwagon based on the content and message that the song carried. The PF felt that the song resonated well with their manifesto and constitution which was based on lower taxes, more jobs, and more money in citizen’s pockets.
In his ‘Donchi Kubeba’ song, Dandy Crazy touched on a wide spectrum of issues that the citizenry was going through during the MMD regime of Mr Rupiah Bwezani Banda. He sang about hunger especially in rural households and shanty compounds; he sang about educated youths not finding employment; he sang about headmen and chiefs being bribed with hammer mills and bicycles during elections; and he sang about police shishita (night curfew) which was rife in high density areas. He then went on to appeal to people in different sectors of the economy to ‘Donchi Kubeba’; that is urging citizens not to reveal their allegiance to the PF but act and behave as though all was well under the MMD regime.
At the end of the song, Dandy Crazy is heard appealing to citizens to unite and be resolute even if it means police breaking their legs. This line reminds me of what Kabwe Central PF member of parliament Tutwa Ngulube recently said on ZNBC news and other media outlets. Mr Ngulube was on 10th June, 2020 captured on camera calling on Zambia police to break legs and bones of all citizens and NGOs intending to hold protests over governance issues in Zambia.
On 24th October 2011, Sata, honoured Dandy Crazy with the Companion Order of Freedom First Division in recognition of the role he played in bringing the Patriotic Front (PF) into government through his song ‘Donchi Kubeba’ which encouraged voters to receive bribes from other parties but vote for Sata and the PF. He was honoured for proving that art and music in particular can be a powerful instrument to change the course of history.
Zambian musicians are expected to be busy in their studios trying to come up with the winning lyrics and beats for the 2021 general election. The stardom that ‘Donchi Kubeba’ brought on Dandy Crazy must be enough motivation for other musicians and Dandy himself. I will not waste your time talking about ‘Dununa Reverse’ because the song had no real meaning and message to change people’s lives. It was simply an old school ‘boostele’ song that was conveniently upgraded. In fact, this song was a distraction from the real political issues. Based on the successes of ‘Donchi Kubeba’, ‘Dununa Reverse’ was employed as a gimmick by the PF to pull another quick one on Zambian voters.
However, when you critically look at ‘Dununa Reverse’ with an open mind, you will see what you should have seen during the 2015 and 2016 elections. It is not as useless a song as it appears. God used musician Jordan Katembula to warn us about the dangers of ushering in the PF because they would reverse all the gains attained through UNIP and MMD regimes. The song was a timely warning.
Clearly all the issues expressed in ‘Donchi Kubeba’ are still rife today, just like they were at the time of composing the song. As things stand, another political party can adopt this song and make good use of it because nothing has changed from the time of its release. In fact, on 2nd June, 2013 Dandy Crazy was quoted as saying he was extremely disappointed with the PF regime’s record on economic performance and human rights.
We are therefore waiting for the 2021 general election winning song. Whether we like it or not, there is going to be that song. It’s a matter of time before we know it and associate it with the 2021 general election. The question is; which song shall win the 2021 general election? Which singer shall do it this time around? We are definitely ready to dance and vote. Music is part of our politics, culture, and everyday life. Watch out for that song and that singer. 2021 is around the corner. Hope you are ready. If not, please get ready.
The author is a development activist, law student and a social commentator. Send comment to: gregory.kaputula @gmail.com