Young Igwe abandons family

Young Igwe - Peter Moyo

All is not well in the large family left behind by the late great musician Tongai “Dhewa” Moyo, who died of cancer late last year. Squabbles, accusations and counter-accusations have torn the family apart and are now threatening to destroy Dhewa’s legacy, Utakataka Express — the band.

Two children, belonging to Dhewa's late wife Barbara Muchengeti, have been chucked out of the rented Msasa home in Kwekwe while Peter is alleged to be refusing to pay rentals and school fees for the young kids.

Dhewa’s surviving wife Miniehle Mukweli and her children are being evicted from the Msasa house over late payments of rentals and non-payment of rates. A two-month eviction notice issued last month requires the family to vacate the house by April 30. This has seen Miniehle in a desperate last-gasp effort to register Tongai Moyo’s estate after having initially been “sweet-talked” into ignoring the matter by Peter in December last year.

The Moyo family wanted to register the estate in December last year, but Peter is said to have assured them that there was no need for that as he would continue to look after the family, the same way his father did.

The estate includes a recently completed Mbizo house, two vehicles (Nissan Presage and Mitsubishi Chariot), a piece of land near Sesombe and musical instruments.

As part of the agreement made between the band and the family last year, Peter, as the leader of the band, was supposed to get 20 percent of income generated from live shows while 40 percent would be for hiring the instruments from the Moyo family. The remaining 40 percent would go to the band for payment of wages and vehicle hire, which include US$70 each per weekend outing for the Nissan Presage and Mitsubishi Chariot, and US$300 for the lorry that ferries instruments.

The arrangement would ensure that all the children would be looked after with money generated from the instruments. Dhewa had six known children with four different women — Peter being the eldest followed by Nyasha. The Samanyemba hitmaker had two children (Tanaka and Nicole) with Barbara Muchengeti, who committed suicide two years ago, and two other children (Tongai Junior aka Obert and Natasha) with Miniehle.

There are unauthenticated reports that he had a Canadian-based daughter who was a product of his liaison in his teenage years who is studying radiography staying and with her mother.Miniehle, who was busy finalising registration of the estate last week, confirmed that the late Barbara’s children no longer stay with her and that she would be moving to the new Mbizo house, although “it requires a few touch-ups”.

Miniehle refused to shed light on the status of the evicted children, referring all questions to their new guardian, Sahleki Muchengeti, young sister to the late Barbara. Said Sahleki: “Peter’s mother (Maud Chirwa) asked us to take the children and said that her son was too young to be looking after such a big family. Peter, however, promised to look after the children financially, but he has not kept his word.

“He only gave us money when we threatened to sue him for maintenance and in the last five months he has committed less than US$200 for the welfare of the two children. They are now wearing tattered clothes, yet he is living large. We will be taking action on him very soon.”  The family has already approached Information and Publicity Minister Cde Webster Shamu, who is patron of musicians, over the matter.

Contacted for comment, Peter, who is currently riding high in the music industry, did not mince his words. The Young Igwe, as he is affectionately known, said he had done as much as he could to look after the family, but cannot continue to “burn out for anyone”.

“It is true that I have said that I will not be looking after anyone, but the reason for this is because these people are not grateful for the little things I have managed to do for them since the unexpected death of my father.

“So why should I keep helping people who will still go around saying I am not looking after them even when I do? My question to those that claim that I am not looking after these children is “how do you want me to look after them? Do you want me to take them to my bed? Or you want me to kiss them when I get home like what their father used to? I cannot obviously do that.

“From now onwards I will not be looking after anyone, after all I am the one who is working,” said an infuriated Peter. Family members say relations in the family were further strained after Peter’s request to have all his siblings go and see a prophet for a “cleansing ceremony” was turned down.

Peter worships at the United Family International Church (UFIC) headed by celebrity pastor Emmanuel Makandiwa. Said Sihleko: “The way forward now is that we want the band Utakataka Express to be managed by lawyers representing all parties. The lawyers will be the custodians of the instruments and no one should go on stage without clearing with the lawyers first.

“Any money that anyone makes out of Tongai Moyo’s fame should be shared equally among the children. All bookings will go though the lawyers who will then distribute the money equally, because the father of these children worked very hard to make his name so they can live off it.” Sundaymail