#Dhuku4Tuku: A befitting send off to a musician who stood up for women in society
Scores of women have joined the social media trend #Dhuku4tuku to celebrate the life and times of a musician who always had women in his corner throughout his music and social commentary.
Women have been posting images of themselves wearing doeks as a sign of respect to Tuku’s work and influence in society.
Oliver Mtukudzi died on the 23rd of January 2018 aged 66.
Tuku was not just a musician on a guitar with a husky voice; he was an esteemed artist, a social commentator and an activist in his own right. He envisioned a transformed world, a better Africa, the Africa we want.
The African Transformation hub has compiled a short list of songs that reflect why Tuku meant so much to women in our society.
Neria
As a soundtrack to a movie of the same name, Neria captures the unfair patriarchal tendencies on inheritance in society. If a husband pass on, relatives have a tendency of taking all ‘his’ presumed belongings, that is, all the benefits entitled to the surviving widow and children. This entraps women in a cycle of poverty. Consequently forcing windows to start over usually with no income. Society has transformed since the early 90s when Neria was produced and Tuku’s illumination of the plight of women in such circumstances arguably played a huge part in changing the narrative.
Todii
An international hit that won him numerous awards, Todii(What shall we do) is a mirror of society ravaged by HIV and AIDS. A world where stigma reigned, women were exposed to the virus simply because they are married and can’t initiate protection, a world were mother to child transmission of HIV was high. Todii was a call to action for all parties involved to mitigate the pandemic.
Tozeza baba
Tozeza is an axe wielded on Gender based Violence in a society where women and children are mostly the victims. The song implores men to stop this ugly behaviour as this has ripple effects on the family and society at large. Tuku envisaged a world of dialogue as opposed to violence. A safer and violent free world for women.
Chara chimwe
Off his Tsivo album, Chara Chimwe explored the economic role of women in society in fighting against poverty. He emphasised that a woman is not confined to the household. The song shows how the society should support women in business as it helps the society at large. He also encouraged the need to help each other for a common cause(chara chimwe hachitswanye inda).
Handiende
Handiende brings out the challenges faced by women in marriages in the face of polygamy and infidelity in our society. The song depicts a woman, a wife and a mother standing her ground in the face of adversaries, for the sake of building the family and for the children never to grow in a broken family.
Wagona fani/Shamiso
Above all he celebrated women. Wagona fani talks of a man thanking his wife for taking care of him and his family.Likewise Shamiso is happy song that celebrates the achievements of a girl child(Shamiso). Tuku realized their important role in society and that they should be celebrated.
Tuku will sadly be missed but he left something to celebrate , his music lives on. He advocated for a just society with women at the centre of it. It is befitting for women to give him such a send-off.
Tatenda W Mhlanga
