Jah Prayzah assaulted at funeral

JAH PRAYZAH’S bid to pay his last respects to his former aide, the late Crispen Nyemba, backfired when he was manhandled and stoned at Glen Forest Memorial Park yesterday.

Nyemba died in a car accident along Samora Machel Avenue in the early hours of Sunday.

The lanky musician, who was accompanied by his manager Keen Mushapaidze, had to run for dear life across the Glen Forest Memorial Park, with some irate mourners in hot pursuit.

Amid the unfolding drama, some mourners had to temporarily abandon proceedings and scamper for the nearest cover amid a hail of misdirected objects aimed at the “Kutonga Kwaro” hit-maker.

Jah Prayzah, who was wearing a grey outfit, could be seen being shepherded from the graveside by a sea of people, all the while ducking and placing a protective hand over his head to avoid the flying missiles.

It, however, did not help as one missile seemingly hit the musician on the back, forcing him to quicken his pace towards his waiting vehicle.

Nyemba’s burial was temporarily halted, and pallbearers had to put the coffin on the ground as emotions ran high.

Some colleagues of the deceased evidently blamed the musician for their friend’s death.

“Ngaabve pano apo, ane basa rei? Tinomutema. Ndiye akauraya (He must get away from this place. He has no business here. We will stone him. He is the one who caused his (Nyemba) death,” some mourners could be heard saying.

Jah Prayzah’s manager Mushapaidze confirmed the incident and said the musician had since reported the matter to the police.

“We had gone to pay our last respects when some mourners descended on us. We did not know that some mourners were aggrieved. We do not know whether it was because we did not contribute anything towards the funeral or it is because of how we severed ties with Crispen (Nyemba),” he said.

This is the third time in less than a week where Jah Prayzah has been found at the mercy of restless crowds.

On Friday, he was forced to abandon a show in Masvingo after fans threw missiles at him when he was about to perform at Caravan Park.

Show organisers are said to have been responsible for the mayhem after arriving with the public address system at around 11pm when Jah Prayzah was scheduled to perform an hour later.

They only realised that they had no cables to connect the instruments at around 12.45am.

Revellers who had braved the chilly weather ran out of patience and started throwing missiles, forcing Jah Prayzah and his team to abandon the show.

On Saturday, in the capital, Jah Prayzah’s band members were stoned by angry revellers as the contemporary crooner also took his time to come to the stage.

The band members had gone for more than 30 minutes doing a sound check.