My heart bleeds for Josephat - Daiton Somanje

 Daiton Somanje Pengaudzoke frontman Daiton Somanje’s heart still bleeds when he thinks of his relationship with his young brother Josphat. Daiton says the siblings’ differences continue to widen each time they plan to work together.The two parted ways back in 2003 amid accusations and counter-accusations of witchcraft and embezzlement of funds turning them into bitter foes. “My heart bleeds for Josphat because he is my brother and no one knows how much I love him, but his biggest problem is that he cannot forgive and forget. “This has made us grow out of each other every time we try and come together. “Our differences continue to widen and we are not the same people anymore. In other words, there is little that unites us than that which separates us,” Daiton said. This was a major about-turn as Daiton once declared that he would not attend Josphat’s funeral. But the “Tsaona” hitmaker told The Herald that their worst mistake was to rely on other people to iron out their differences. “We are not on talking terms and often when I want to talk to Josphat I have to go through a third party and he does the same when he wants something from me. “But the question is why are we avoiding each other when we are family? Should we always rely on handlers to solve our differences? “I have raised my concerns on a number of occasions but Josphat seems not to be interested in us getting back together. “I strongly feel that we were both fools to let other people come between us.” According to reports, Pengaudzoke, then made up of brothers Daiton, Josphat (lead guitar) and rhythm guitarist Clever (late), joined forces with colleague Lameck “Nhekwe” Fradwell (Drums), twins Laison and Marufu in the early 1980s. The band was popular around the farming areas of Beatrice. The group released their first single “Munodirei Kusanyara”, which went platinum. Accompanied by a video, the song introduced songstress Rose Change among other band members. This was going to be the first rift between Daiton and Josphat. It seems every time the group hit a jackpot, serious differences would emerge. It was in the late 1980s that the group was commanding considerable airplay that the group moved to Marondera. However, Josphat, because of differences with his brother, walked out of the band to work in Belvedere as a gardener. He rejoined the group and they continued to churn hit after hit interspersed by splits and fighting among the brothers. The in-fighting turned ugly when Josphat, who doubled as band manager, had a massive fallout leading to a permanent split. Daiton blamed Josphat of misusing band accounts after travelling with his sick wife to Malawi using the band’s only vehicle. The vehicle broke down and Daiton accused Josphat of going to Malawi for witchcraft purposes. Josphat, who had returned without the vehicle after a breakdown, packed all the instruments from his studio in Marondera’s Cherutombo township and dumped everything at Daiton’s residence in Rujeko township. Daiton continued using the name Pengaudzoke while Josphat recruited some musicians to form the Somanje Stars. Efforts have been made to reunite the brothers and has seen them share the stage albeit with different groups. Josphat also assisted Daiton to record an album “Zvisinei Hazvo” in 2011. In a wide-ranging interview last week, Daiton opened up to The Herald and spoke about his life, music and career. According to Daiton, Pengaudzoke is not a sungura outfit but sings what he calls “Chomanga”. He says dancers move in reverse though not quite like Michael Jackson’s famous “Moonwalk”. It is the music which is commonly found along the Mozambique-Malawi border. The name Somanje means “kudii kwacho” in Shona, he says. Daiton says the brothers took after their father who was a boxer and singer. “Our parents were both musicians. Ali Somanje, our father, used to sing together with our mother Roda Kauzira who played drums (ngoma) using sticks. “My father who was also a boxer used to play a one-stringed guitar called chimwinyi-mwinyi and we are somehow related to the Chimbetus and the name Somanje is my mother’s surname,” he explained. And to show his frustrations and bitterness, Daiton has used his latest six-track album called “Zvinowanikwa” which is his third album from Last Power Media. The album, which was released in April this year, is laden with sad songs that reflect on his career and family. The track “Somanje Musadaro” is diatribe to Josphat for fanning hatred within the family. In the song Daiton says that while he loves his young brother it was taking long for him to accept that whatever differences they had in the past were now water under the bridge. In the same verse he also takes the blame saying he longed for the good old days when they were still a formidable Pengaudzoke. He pleads with Josphat to love his family and desist from washing dirty linen in public. The track “Zvemukati Mukati” follows on the same theme of family putting their differences aside and working together. The song was also in partial reference to Josphat. “Mapundu Mapundu” talks about a person who is at war inside or has burning issues. But he says it was better to struggle with life than to be dead. Another song, “Mbeu Dzangu”, is directed at his son Faheim for being a disrespectful child. The song was penned at a time when Faheim allegedly booted him out of his Marondera home while plotting to take over the band. Daiton said he was at pains with the behaviour of his son whom he wanted to follow in his footsteps. In the song he asks: “Is this what I expected of my child?” While some musicians are living off their record sales, Daiton says he was finding the going tough since piracy had eroded his earnings.  “In the past we would eke out a living from record sales but now it has since changed because we have to rely mostly on live shows which bring a bit of cash or nothing at all,” he said.