Hardwork, resilient and focus has earned Magumaguma hitmaker, Elliot (Vahombe) Gwafa a score in his music career, a career which he pursued since his teenage days in Gokwe North.
It was pleasure for My Gokwe Media to have a chat with one of Gokwe’s upcoming musician as he narrated his journey from childhood to the production of his first album, Magumaguma.
“I was born in Sanyati on the 25th of December, I attended St Jodacks Primary School grade 1 and 2 before my parents migrated to Gokwe’s Zhomba rural area where I did the rest of my primary education as well as secondary,” narrated Gwafa.
Gwafa left Gokwe in search of employment in 2002 when he managed to secure a job at AROMA bakery before joining ZESA Holdings’ Southerton branch.
“I left Gokwe for the Capital City of Zimbabwe in 2002 in search of employment and I was lucky to be employed at AROMA bakery where I worked for two years before I switched to ZESA holdings in 2006 where I worked for another two year period,” he said.
“In November 2006, I crossed the border to South Africa, where I rejuvenated my career which I had sidelined for the four years in Harare. This is where I started to look for support and other members to work with in the pursuit of my dream career,” he said.
Back to his music carrier in 1996 to 2001, they regrouped into Bhazuka Express with some local boys. However, due to lack of the financial and material resource and support from the community, the band did not last. Gwafa’s move to Harare contributed to the group’s disintegration as he was very instrumental to the group and sort of leader, only to resume music carrier when he moved to South Africa.
Responding to the challenges and time it took Gwafa to put resources together and make his first product he said ”five years”. In reality the journey was not all that easy.
“It was a difficult journey to reach this far and we have to seek help from well-wishers in the music industry, thanks to Deverangwena Jazz Band, they are the major contributors to the success of Magumaguma,” said Gwafa.
With the help from well-wishers and sacrifice, Elliot Gwafa managed to regroup and rebrand.
“We worked on Magumaguma as Zvipo Netariro Express before rebranding to Chibamuro Express after realizing that we were sharing same brand (Zvipo Netariro),” he added.
After the release of the first album, he began to work on growing the band to suit the standards of a professional band.
“Since the production of Magumaguma, our band has grown and I can tell you that it is now a seven member band including three dancers, not mentioning that Manyowa who used to dance together with John Chibadura is one of my team,” said the grateful Gwafa.
Gwafa ended the conversation by assuring his supporters and the whole Zimbabwe family that the band is now self-sufficient and they are only waiting for the approval of live shows for them to start performing.
Right now I can tell you that the band is self-sufficient and if it was not COVID-19 we would be performing live by now. I want to appeal to the fans to buy our DVD and enjoy my music as it help us grow. Thank you my fans, may God bless you all.
As My Gokwe’s motive and wish to put Gokwe on the map and to help grow it, let’s rally behind this upcoming musician by buying his DVD.
You can also watch his videos on My Gokwe Social Media as well as his Facebook Account, Elliot Vahombe Gwafa.
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