Mugabe and Music

An academic called Winston Mano, who is Zimbabwean, has done some fascinating research on Zimbabwean music.
Because the exiled Thomas Mapfumo has so much popular power in Zimbabwe, Mugabe and his followers decided to fight back with music of their own. They reclaimed field songs and folk music, using it in TV ads to show that Mugabe reflected traditional Zimbabwean values, untainted by Westernisation (bit like Hitler in a way, encouraging folk music in Nazi Germany). several MPs even brought out their own albums, in support of Mugabe. The weirdest thing that Winston had was a cassette featuring a pop song about hatred of the UK, and in particular, Tony Blair, whose name appeared regularly throughout the song, which was sung in the Zimbabwean language.
As for those suits Mugabe wears- what beatiful kitsch horror! They must have cost a fortune, with those portraits of him printed on them. He has at least two- a green one and a red one, which both resemble banknotes in their detail and colouring. Dictators seem to have a sense of style that reinforces their invincibility- be wary of Superman, you never know what he's up to when you're not looking!