Mberikwazvo courting former dancer
By Silence Charumbira
Showbiz Editor
Former Orchestra Mberikwazvo dancer Peter Kagomera says the band’s management keeps courting him as they have no confidence with their current lead dancer.
Kagomera made the sensational claims on Friday evening and said Selemani Mpochi was a fake and no match for him on the dance floor.
The dancer also claimed there was extensive use of juju in the band and said that was the major reason why he ended up being fired.
“Band management is always asking me to come to their offices but each time I go they seem too busy. I know Majuice (Mpochi) is no match for me. Every dance routine he is doing now he is copying Franco (Francis Dhaka),” Kagomera said.
“I respect Franco because he is the real deal but not Majuice. With Franco I surrender but even he knows I am no push over.”
Kagomera also accused Majuice of snitching on him leading to his suspension as he was caught doing solo shows against management’s directive.
With a demeanor that will always tempt you to make a comparisons with Alick Macheso, Kagomera makes the least of effort to imitate him.
Now based in Norton’s Katanga, Kagomera says he is surviving on solo shows where he charges $40 for four hours.
But it is not the rate that will make other dancers green with envy, as he often bags more from money tossed by fans onto the stage in appreciation of his craft.
Apart from his nimble feet, his routines are intelligent and one can tell he simply needs a little coaching to cause a steer on any platform.
That aside, Peter’s stories are interesting. Just like Macheso himself, he often leaves his audience mourning over their ribs.
For instance, the incident that led to his dismissal from Orchestra Mberikwazvo which he feels was caused by the use of juju.
“There is a lot of juju in that band. I remember when I got fired the band was going to United Kingdom but I did not yet have a passport so I took my wife to Ziko in Seke for braai. The DJ then played one of Macheso’s tracks and I started dancing,” he said.
As he was dancing, he explained, a patron reportedly shouted at him and he retaliated.
“I tried to grab a bottle from another patron to hit the guy who had provoked me but the bottle broke and he started pushing me around. As he was around two neighbourhood watch police officers passed and recognised me and thought they could extort me and that is when I hit one of them with a stone and fled,” he said.
But that is not the most interesting part.
“When I fled I bumped into a hooker that I had once romped with and went to her house. My wife did not know where I had gone but when she heard I had been in a brawl with police officers she called her mother. At the same time the officers were told by people who had seen the hooker and knew her residence and they came for me,” Kagomera said.
His mother in-law, his wife and the police officers found him pleasuring with the thigh vendor stark naked.
“Mudhara ndakanyara. (My brother I was so embarrassed),” he said with a mischievous smile.
The incident earned him a court appearance and cost him his job.
Kagomera said he also feels his is one of the people for which Macheso sang his latest hit Gungwa.
“The message seems to tell that story but I do not let it get to my head. He knows what I can do but he wants to see if I am serious. I have tried to be descent. Since I left the band I have not been in any trouble. I have reformed,” he said.
At City Sports Bar on Friday, the dancer made close to $30 from revellers who tossed money while he was on stage dancing to Macheso’s tracks, one of them being Gungwa.
