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Tafadzwa Zimoyo

Senior Arts Reporter

The late musician and liberation hero Soul Jah Love (Soul Musaka), was granted his wish after being buried next to his father, Mr Ephraim Ticharwa Musaka, at Warren Hills Cemetery in Harare on Saturday.

Mr Musaka died on February 18, 2005.

He was a liberation war veteran who served as a ZIPRA intelligence member.

Soul Jah Love’s mother, Stembeni, was in the Zanu PF Women’s League national executive, which was headed by the late heroine Sally Mugabe in the early 1980s.

Zanu PF acting secretary for youth Tendai Chirau confirmed the late musician’s family political history, saying Soul Jah Love was also an active member of the ruling party.

“Soul Jah Love was a strong member of Zanu PF as he played an active role. He was born from a political family and was also active in the party. He, together with his friend, Changara, supported the party. 

“His father was a ZIPRA member of the intelligence, while the mother was active in the Women’s League national executive in 1984, which was headed by the late Sally Mugabe.” 

Soul Jah Love’s burial was marked by pomp and fanfare as people from all walks of life thronged the cemetery, giving police a torrid time in enforcing the Covid-19 social distancing regulations.

The late musician took his controversy to the graveyard after his multitude of followers defied the law which allows 30 people to attend a funeral and tracked his hearse to the cemetery. 

Even at his Msasa Park home where his body laid in state on Friday, hundreds of mourners turned up to pay their last respects.

Some were turned away by police who were enforcing the Covid-19 regulations, with two checkpoints mounted, although some managed to sneak through.

On Saturday, traffic and business along the way to the Warren Hills came to a standstill as people jostled to have a glimpse of the cortège, with some taking selfies and videos of the convoy.

“Soul Jah Love was our artiste” said one fan, who walked from Waterfalls to Warren Park. “We grew up with him in Mbare and Waterfalls. It was wrong to hold the funeral wake in Msasa Park, that is not his home area.”

Fans would be heard singing some of the fallen hero’s music, while bikers honoured him with burnouts.

The police had a torrid time controlling the crowd at the cemetery and it took close to an hour for the burial proceedings to commence.

Some climbed on trees to get a better view of the proceedings, while others perched on tombstones. 

Many tombstones were destroyed in the melee, while flowers and some small trees were damaged. 

Addressing the mourners, Harare Provincial Minister of State and Devolution Senator Oliver Chidawu said Soul Jah Love proved that he was a great man.

He said: “Kuti haasi chinhu, zvinhu”, amid cheers from the crowd which responded to part of the lyrics on one of Soul Jah Love’s songs.

Minister Chidawu commended the musician for being a unifier “who tore political party lines..

This was reflected at the funeral proceedings as politicians from both the ruling party and the opposition were in attendance.

The “Ndini Uyauya” hitmaker received a gun salute, which was cheered by fans who later showered soldiers who fired the shots with praises.

One woman identified as Geraldine Baye took to social media to claim that she was in a love relationship with Soul Jah Love.

She posted her eulogy with supporting pictures, dividing fans who queried why she decided to come out after his death.