By Jonathan Mbiriyamveka
HARARE — ZIMURA Chairman Alexio Gwenzi has made a passionate appeal to the Zimbabwean government for tangible support to the music industry, calling for the provision of transport for provincial licensing inspectors, the unfreezing of cover band collections, and the renegotiation of lopsided broadcasting contracts to unlock much-needed revenue for struggling composers.
Speaking at the inaugural ZIMURA Top 100 Intellectual Property Owners and Royalty Earners Stakeholder Engagement Forum at Rainbow Towers on Thursday, Gwenzi laid bare the logistical and policy hurdles crippling the organization’s ability to collect royalties on behalf of its 5,047 members.
With a direct appeal to the Guest of Honor, Acting Minister of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture, Hon. Minister Machakaire, Gwenzi painted a vivid picture of the operational challenges faced by licensing inspectors across the country’s ten provinces.
“We have a logistical crisis. Our licensing inspectors across 10 provinces are currently trying to collect revenue from music users in various towns and suburbs using public transport. It is hard to move from one bar to the other to license and collect meaningful revenue especially during rainy seasons,” Gwenzi said.
The Chairman then turned to the highest office in the land, requesting that the message be conveyed to President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa.
“We fully subscribe to his vision of an Upper Middle-Income Economy by 2030 and the mantra of ‘leaving no one and no place behind.’ We see the support the government, perhaps through private well-wishers, given to other sectors such as football and we all appreciate this; we however humbly ask that the music industry, the heartbeat of our culture, is not forgotten,” he said.
Gwenzi specifically requested support in the form of transport for the ten provincial offices, arguing that such investment would yield significant returns.
“This capacity would allow us to collect significantly more revenue, which goes directly to our members, many of whom are youths. If we empower them to earn a living from their pens and instruments, we provide a powerful alternative to the scourge of drug and substance abuse,” he said.
The Chairman also addressed a contentious directive from the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs that halted ZIMURA’s collections from cover bands—a move he described as both unjust and economically damaging to composers.
“While we are happy to review how much we charge, there is no moral justification for cover bands to profit from your compositions without paying ZIMURA. We are pleading with the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs to help unfreeze this unjust directive which affects Music Composers in Zimbabwe,” Gwenzi stated.
He further appealed to the Ministry of Arts and the National Arts Council, which he described as a “mother” to all industry players.
“You are a ‘mother’ to all of us, not just the cover bands. We have 5,047 composers in dire need of your protection. Our doors are open for advice, but we need your muscle to ensure our creators earn their due,” he said.
On the broadcasting front, Gwenzi revealed that ZIMURA is aggressively renegotiating its contract with the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), which currently entitles the organization to a mere 3% of advertising revenue.
“Our music is your core content; we deserve a share of your total revenue,” Gwenzi said, signaling a shift in the organization’s negotiating posture.
The Chairman’s address marks a significant moment in ZIMURA’s relationship with government, shifting from passive acceptance of policy decisions to active advocacy for the interests of music composers. Whether the appeals translate into tangible policy shifts and material support will determine the trajectory of an industry that Gwenzi described as “the heartbeat of our culture.”
About Author
