By Knowledge Teya

I HAVE tried calling your number several times in vain but this has not deterred me from writing this piece.
I don’t recall the last time I spoke to you, but those days you were staying in Msasa Park, Harare.
Your song ‘Ndini Uya Uya’ was making waves big time.
It almost became an anthem.
Nowadays you are in Greendale, Harare, but sources close to you are telling me you are not well.
They are worried and hurt – hurt because they love you so much and can’t stand seeing you ‘dying’.
Mafans ako aya and a lot is being said about you Soul Musaka, aka Soul Jah Love.
They are saying you are slowly losing your mind and I was calling you to confirm several disturbing things circulating, especially in your circles.
Is it true you are no longer the ‘Chibaba’ they knew?
Is it true at times your mind just snaps?
Is it true at times you shut whoever it is outside and just lock yourself up in your house, meditating I presume?
Is it true ‘Makuruwani’ that you are seeing things that others don’t see?
And is it true ‘Chibaba’ at times you claim there are people following you intending to harm you yet nothing of that sort would be happening.
Where are these hallucinations coming from?
You have been such a gem, a superstar actually, but sources say you are slowly pushing your associates away.
Do you even still have a steady manager?
After your hit song ‘Pamamonya Ipapo’, which many presumed was the song of the year, you have gone silent.
Some say you are having vocal fatigue.
I hear, here and there, about your next album Naka Dhula Dhaka, but nothing seems to be materialising.
Some say you are also having vocal fatigue.
I hear the other time you failed to perform in Highfield, Harare, because you were not well.
In South Africa, you recently collapsed because you were unwell too.
I now understand, though you seem to be up-and-about, you are a pale shadow of your former self.
At Copacabana in Harare, kwaDhama in Mbare and at Downtown in Highfield, you are the talk of town.
They are saying you don’t even want anyone with a smartphone or camera near you, lest you throw a tantrum because you don’t want the outside world to see what you have become.
What could be the problem ‘Chibaba’?
Was so-called prophet Walter Magaya of any help when you made headlines after frequenting his church?
Everyone knows you are diabetic, but are you still taking your medication religiously as before?
Some are saying you are still nursing a heartbreak since your wife Lynette Lisa Musenyi, aka Bounty Lisa, left, but others are insinuating strong drug abuse and a combination of other factors.
I remember last time you made the headlines after bashing Bounty Lisa because ‘waishaya pfuti yako’.
Whoever knew besides those in your circles kuti the ‘pfuti’ you wanted was not a proper firearm, but something drug-related.
I’m convinced Bounty Lisa has a lot to say, but it remains to be seen when she will open up.
Just like you ‘Chibaba’, she has gone to hell and back.
I hear her family is into African Traditional Religion.
If so, did you ever seek help?
But that’s a topic for another day.
Someone on facebook recently posted your picture and a get well message.
The responses were both interesting and constructive.
Richboy Cee Ndururani said: “Life yacho yese yangove get well soon here?
Muudzei asiye madrugs kwete kungoti get well soon muchisiya munhu achifa imimi mafanz ake muripo.
Akafa munopinda busy.
Tell him the truth.”
Tirivashie Nyatsambo said: “Siyai mutoriro Makuruwani,” while one Claris Darryl Dube, on the other hand, was blunt, saying: “Dombo ndiro ririkuvauraya Makuruwani.
Dai vasiya madrugs.
Sure munhu ndinomufarira uyu.
Kutaura sure I was hurt pandakamuona kwaMachipisa last month. Ummmm…. ndakarwadziwa.
Ngavasiye dombo.
Hariite.”
I am made to understand the ‘mutoriro’ making rounds in Harare, especially in Highfield, Mbare and some parts of town, considering its price, it’s actually not the proper crystal meth as perceived by the users.
They are crystallised brownish-cream grains that look like coarse salt or small hailstones.
However, it remains an intoxicating drug more powerful than marijuana, broncleer (bronco) or even mangemba (mental patients tablets).
In South Africa, it’s said, they call it ‘tik’ or ‘cape poison’.
On June 20 2018 Health Times published an interview with a mutoriro addict (Simba) from Highfield who explained how they used disused energy saver bulbs to smoke mutoriro.
I then recalled someone saying Soul Jah Love once removed many energy savers in his house trying to come up with a pipe to smoke mutoriro.
I found it hilarious, but fast forward, to date, for the love for being in a nirvana state, Sauro could have done it.
But back to the energy savers.
It’s shocking the white powder from the energy savers is actually sold to others who may want to smoke it.
In an interview on Health Times, Simba said: “I have taken all the other popular substances but I do not encourage first times to smoke mutoriro.
It tastes like some detergents mixed with sewer.
It’s not for the faint hearted.
With this drug, you have hyped energy coupled with enhanced concentration.
Upon continuously smoking this, I can go for two-or-three days without sleep.”
Other sources say the drug eats away the skin, something that users in Zimbabwe are not aware of.
Further information from the internet says: “Crystal meth is the common name for crystal methamphetamine, a strong and highly addictive drug that affects the central nervous system.
There is no legal use for it.
It comes in clear crystal chunks or shiny blue white rocks.
Usually, users smoke with a small glass pipe, but they may also swallow it, snort it or inject it into a vein.
It’s dangerous.
It can damage your body and cause severe psychological problems.
The powerful rush people get from using meth causes many to get hooked right from the start.”
Side effects
l Meth can make users’ body temperature rise so high one can pass out or even die.
l Users may feel anxious and confused, be unable to sleep, have mood swings and become violent.
l Looks can change dramatically. A user may age quickly. His/her skin may dull and can develop hard-to-heal sores and pimples. He/she may have a dry mouth and stained, broken, or rotting teeth.
l He/she may become paranoid. He/she may hear and see things that are not there. He/she may think about hurting self or others. He/she may also feel as though insects are crawling on or under his/her skin.
Considering it is said about 60 percent of mental illness cases come from those who abuse dangerous drugs, now is the time for those who can, to help Soul Jah Love if the news downtown, in the ghettos and other corners is anything to go by.
Remember a stitch in time saves nine.
Such talent cannot go to waste.
He is just 28 years old, turning 29 on November 22 and we must learn from sad examples of late artistes like Andy ‘Muzukuru’ Brown, Chiwoniso Maraire, Brenda Fassie, Lundi Tyamara, Whitney Houston and Amy Winehouse, among others.
Soul Jah Love cannot be left to be a danger unto himself.
Genuine friends, relatives and fans must intervene now and because we love him, rehab is the way to go!
Sometimes we have to be ‘cruel’ to be kind!
#souljahlovehachisichigunduru!
This story has been rerun after being published with errors (in The Patriot — August 17 – 23 2018,
Issue 367).