Lilongwe-based dancehall artist Annie Matumbi has talked tough against perpetrators of rumour-mongering on social media after news spread that he was dead.
The musician could not suppress his wrath over the weekend when he was MC during two Black Missionaries performances in Lilongwe.
On Thursday afternoon, rumour was rife on Facebook that Matumbi, whose real name is Chiyanjano Muheziwa, was no more after a short illness and that his remains were at Kamuzu Central Hospital.
Read the Facebook post as breaking news: “Katswiri woyimba Annie Matumbi wa zaka 35 wamwalira ku Kamuzu Central Hospital atadwala kanthawi kochepa.Matumbi wasiya Mkazi ndi ana atatu. M’bale wake Maxwell Matumbi wati mwambo wa maliro alengezabe” [music Artists Annie Matumbi has died at the Kamuzu Central Hospital after a short illness.
Matumbi is survived by a wife and three children. His brother Maxwell Matumbi says further details about funeral arrangements will be announced later].”
But Matumbi took his time on the stage at Chez Ntemba in Lilongwe before Anthony Makondetsa’s turn to attack those that ‘killed’ him and hinted that he will record a song this week to hit back at the master-minders of his ‘sudden death.’
“Anthu ena osowa zochita mwafalitsa uthenga wokuti ine ndafa. Kufa kwa ambuye anu mupatse ine? Ine ndikumalandira ma telefoni kuchokera kunja ngati ku UK kumandifunsa zoti ndafa. Ndili nanu nanu ndipo ndikulowa mu studio ndinkhani imeneyi: [Some idle minds have spread the rumour that I am dead. If your grandparents have died do not say it’s me who has died. I have been receiving international telephone calls inquiring about the truth of this rumour. I will not relent, but will record a song about such rumour about my death].”
Matumbi also repeatedly lodged the same complaint at the Lilongwe Golf Club and went beyond by singing a free-style piece to condemn those that spread the death rumour.
In an interview on Wednesday, Matumbi also expressed disappointment with the death hoax, which he said, has affected even his family and relatives.
“First of all, the message on Facebook about his ‘death’ quotes someone with a name Maxwell Matumbi, but my real surname is Muheziwa and not Matumbi and also it says I have died at the age of 35, but I am 33 years old. Further, those people say I am survived by a wife and three children when I only have one child,” said the visibly-annoyed Matumbi.
The artist suspects that the rumour was masterminded by some people from the capital city whom he said are brim with envy and jealousy of his music career.
Quizzed about his plans for his music career in 2014, Matumbi said he sees himself recording a new album after three years into recess.
Some of the renowned artists who have been rumoured dead recently include gospel artists Evance Meleka, Lucius Banda and Ethel Kamwendo.
