"Tuku's influence is thin!", Jonathan Moyo Digs In

Former ministers of Higher and Tertiary education, Jonathan Moyo, has insisted that his Tuku’s influence in producing music is thin. He also said that he makes no apology for this opinion.

Earlier, Jonathan Moyo was accused of having said, in 2017, that Oliver Mtukudzi’s influence in producing music was too thin for him to deserve an honourary degree from the University of Zimbabwe.

This is what the champion of democracy and the face of opposition in Zimbabwe @ProfJNMoyo thought of @TukuOfficial in May 2017! #RIPOliverMtukudzi pic.twitter.com/ptHIu6n6f8

— African (@ali_naka) January 27, 2019

In response, Jonathan Moyo said that he stood by his opinion then and that he still thought so, clarifying that “We have great talent but very a very poor production base. Senior musicians have a duty to rectify this!”. Asked if honourary degrees are awarded to music producers only, Moyo dug in:

No, it’s not awarded for “anything only” but for a cocktail of various relevant factors taken together, including music production, in the sense of developing new talent. In my considered opinion, & this is my opinion for which I make no apology about, #Tuku‘s influence is thin!

Oliver Mtukudzi died last week, on 23 January 2019. Shortly after news broke that he had died, Moyo paid his tribute, posting on Twitter “An indisputable national hero, African icon and global star!” Mtukudzi was declared a Zimbabwe National Hero.