By Decide Nhendo
Victims of gender-based violence (GBV) are commonly women and girls, but it is undeniable that men and boys are also targeted. It is thus a travesty that males who experience GBV receive less attention than females and that such cases remain hidden.
Masvingo-based musician Kennedy Ganda is setting his sights on these less addressed GBV issues targeted at man, saying he is determined to reach greater heights as he works to popularize his work across the country.
Ganda who is known in music circles by the name KennyGizzy99 said financial constraints are a major setback to his desire to communicate societal ills, but he vowed to keep on pushing his agenda.
“I am working tirelessly as an artist to address GBV against men and boys and my next project a song titled ‘Haruna’ is a song that looks into men and boys that are being abused by women. When these issues are raised, authorities only prioritize women and girls alienating men, so I am trying to stand for them and make their voice be realized in societies as they can also be victims of GBV.
“My main calamity as for now is lack of funding because in all seven songs I have released only one song ‘Mwana uye’ has visuals, of which visuals are an excellent way to lure fans to listen to an artist’s message,” said Ganda.
Ganda who said he is an Afro-pop, contemporary and Afro-Jazz musician started in 2021 after he broke his leg while playing soccer, with his debut song and video ‘Mwana uye’ earning him best upcoming artist in the same year in a local competition.
After his first single he went on year to release an extended play (EP) with 3 songs; ‘Lydia’, ‘Kidznet’ and ‘Cheu Cheu’ a gospel song that he said was received well by the audience, but did not meet his expectations since it did not have visuals.
He ceased composing new songs to have enough time to push his released songs and in late 2022 he released his second EP which had two tracks ‘Hombarume’ which he said was mainly a cultural song, and ‘Chibhareta’ which he said celebrated women.
Ganda said he has been going for auditions in Masvingo and cities like Harare where he emerged one of the best performers in some cases, but his displays were in vain since sometimes he was duped by event organizers, which shows a great setback to the growth of music industry.
“I have been doing auditions locally here in Masvingo and big cities like Harare, and sometimes I could outperform my other counterparts but in most cases I could not receive the promised prizes or I could receive the prizes reduced which shows that most promoters do not value upcoming talent, ” said Ganda.
He appealed to Masvingo community as well as other well-wishers who wish to assist him saying that he was ready to use his talent for the better. He said he aims to do tours in schools, and other public places raising awareness about challenges that are affecting communities like drug abuse and early child marriages.
“I ask those who are willing and capable to assist me on my endeavor because I am sure if I get the equipment and money to create visuals and do what other modern artists are doing nothing can stop me from to reach higher heights,” he said.
Ganda also said he is working with producer Wellington Mapanzure also known as Savil Music who hails from Mucheke B and he said they were working on other songs that are yet to be released.
“I am working with Savil Music from Mucheke, and as it stands everything is flowing smoothly, we have a number of songs which we are working on, and I am sure music lovers are going to enjoy the new songs when they are released,” he said.
Those who want to listen to his music can follow him on Facebook on Jindaguru Rekumakumucha, YouTube channel KennyGizzy99 aka Jindaguru, Instagram on jindagururekumakucha and Jindaguru Rekumakumucha on Spotify.
