Award-winning Zimbabwean journalist, Hopewell Chin’ono, has said Mudiwa Hood did not do anything wrong by recording himself while donating clothes and groceries to sungura musician, Paradzai Mesi.
Mesi who leads the Njerama Boys had been arrested for allegedly stealing groceries, and Mudiwa gave him a new suit and groceries while recording the act.
Some people on social media think that Mudiwa Hood wasn’t compassionate and was humiliating Paradzai Mesi. However, Chin’ono believes that Mudiwa is actually helping to restore Mesi’s dignity by doing the donation publicly on the same platform where he was shamed before. He said:
There are many things that I disagree with Mudiwa Hood but this is not one of them.
He helped a man who was humiliated on camera, what is wrong with retaining his dignity on camera on the same platforms which exposed the man in chains.
Mudiwa is running a business, he helped a fellow artist, this help will also make others want to buy his products. Big companies do it, why not Mudiwa?
My only issue with Mudiwa is that he supports a regime that has brought this economic humiliation to millions of Zimbabweans.
Helping this man is noble, but we can’t live from handouts, what happens to those who were not filmed?
So let us look at the broader picture, the issue of Mudiwa assisting this man and posting the pictures is a narrow issue, the real issue is why we got here where a musician ends up stealing to survive.
Mudiwa, formerly Mudiwa Mtandwa, is a Zimbabwean gospel Hip Hop artist who rose to fame with his hit songs such as “Ndaita Mari” and “Anhu Acho Tisu“.
He also works in the office of Uebert Angel, the Presidential Envoy and Ambassador at Large to Europe and the Americas (OPEAAL).
Paradzai Mesi’s Response
Mesi’s manager Alfred Andy told The Herald Arts and Entertainment that on April 20th, Paradzai went drinking at a farm called Hermistone.
Later that night, he met three men who pretended they would take him home. However, they actually took him to a shop and falsely claimed it was his residence.
Paradzai, who was drunk, slept on the shop floor. When he woke up in the morning, he realized he was at a shop surrounded by many people and was subsequently arrested.