Professor Sir Saidi Patrick Mutero

🎸 THE UNTOLD STORY OF PENGAUDZOKE
PART 1: DUNNOTTAR FARM BOYS

Long before the fame…
before the hit songs…
before the fallout between two brothers that would later greatly shake Sungura music…

there was Denota Farm in Beatrice.

Dusty roads. To***co fields. Cattle paths. Homemade guitars. And young boys dreaming beyond the boundaries of farm life.

This is where the story of Pengaudzoke begins.

Born at DUNNOTTAR Farm just outside Harare were two brothers from a family of 15 siblings:

🎤 Daiton Tongesai Somanje, born in 1964
🎸 Josphat Zivanai Somanje, born in 1968.

Their father, John Zuze Somanje, originally came from Malawi and worked on the farm. Like many farm workers of that generation, official birth records were uncommon. The brothers would later learn their birth dates from the white farmer who employed their father.

Music entered the family through their elder brother, Nomiyas.

But among all the brothers, it was Josphat alone who became fascinated with the guitar.

As a young boy at DUNNOTTAR Farm, Josphat would spend hours watching Nomiyas playing guitar. By carefully observing finger movements, rhythm and chord changes, Josphat slowly taught himself how to play.

No music school.
No formal lessons.
Just observation, passion and determination.

That was the beginning of everything.

Ironically, although Daiton would later become the famous voice and stage performer associated with Pengaudzoke, it was Josphat who first carried the vision of forming a band.

The younger brother became the architect.

Josphat first taught his cousin Clever Somanje how to play guitar. Many people later believed Clever was actually Daiton and Josphat’s blood brother, but the truth runs deeper than that.

Clever’s mother was sister to Daiton and Josphat’s mother. She died while giving birth to Clever. After her death, Daiton and Josphat’s mother raised Clever as her own child.

Blood did not make them brothers. Life did.

After teaching Clever, Josphat then taught another young man from Denota Farm:

🎸 Laison Ngolowera.

Laison had a twin brother, Marefula Ngolowera, who was originally expected to become the band’s drummer.

But destiny had already introduced another character into the story.

From a neighbouring farm came a cattle herder named Lameck “Nhekwe” Fadhuweki.

Nhekwe was no ordinary farm boy.

His nickname “Nhekwe” came from a traditional container used for carrying to***co sniff, a name that became popular around the farming compounds because of his unique personality and presence.

He was also a fully fledged Nyau dancer, known in and around the farming compounds and Chitungwiza as “Pengaudzoke.” More importantly, he arrived carrying something nobody else had:

🥁 a homemade drum kit.

And he could play.

Better than Marefula.

That homemade drum set changed everything.

This became the true formation of Pengaudzoke.

As the group started taking shape, Josphat then invited his elder brother Daiton into the band. At the time, Daiton was working in the to***co fields at Denota Farm, but everybody already knew about his extraordinary vocal range, dancing ability and natural stage presence.

Daiton joined together with his friend Innocent Nyawani.

The original lineup of Pengaudzoke was now complete:

🎸 Josphat Zivanai Somanje – Lead Guitar
🎤 Daiton Tongesai Somanje – Lead Vocals
🎙️ Innocent Nyawani – Backing Vocals
🎙️ Marefula Ngolowera – Backing Vocals
🎸 Laison Ngolowera – Bass Guitar
🥁 Lameck “Nhekwe” Fadhuweki – Drums
🎸 Clever Somanje - Rhythm Guitar

At this stage, the group was not yet performing original songs.

Like many young Zimbabwean bands of that era, they played East African Benga music, popularly known in Zimbabwe as “Kanindo.”

Using homemade instruments and raw talent, they started performing around farming communities in Beatrice.

And soon people started talking.

Word spread from farm to farm about a dangerous new band from Denota Farm.

Those whispers eventually reached the newly established recording company RTP.

Curious about the excitement surrounding the group, RTP sent representatives to assess the young band. Among those reportedly involved was the late legendary Zimbabwean musician Oliver Mtukudzi together with radio personalities connected to the company.

What they discovered shocked them.

A farm band with homemade instruments… but extraordinary potential.

That visit opened the door into professional recording.

In the early 1980s, Pengaudzoke recorded their first single:

🎵 “Antu Adandawile”
with
🎵 “Chinhu Chevaridzi” on the flip side.

The name “Pengaudzoke” itself is widely believed to have come from Lameck “Nhekwe” Fadhuweki’s Nyau identity name, which was already famous around the compounds and Chitungwiza . However, another version of the story later emerged through a song by the late Daiton Somanje titled “Pengaudzoke.” In the song, it is suggested that the name came from the group’s behaviour of leaving home at night to perform on surrounding farms and then returning before morning so they could still report for work and continue with their usual chores.

Nobody knew it then…

But a group born from to***co fields, homemade drums, family struggle and raw farm talent was about to become one of the most influential Sungura bands in Zimbabwean music history.

TO BE CONTINUED

Kufara tingafare hedu
asi pane vakasuwa nekuda kwedu
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The Golden Rule
Do unto Others as u would like others Do unto u.

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