Dudu Manhenga

In 2016, Dudu Manhenga graduated from the Pan-African Christian College with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theology.^[2]

Career

Having started music at a very tender age, by grade three Dudu was already the leader of her primary school choir.^[3] Having met the now husband Blessing at college, together they formed Colour Blu. Dudu together with her band Colour Blu has released four albums to date. They have performed on both local and international platforms and toured countries such as Sweden.^[1] Besides music, Dudu is also into activism, motivational speaking as well as being a director of ceremonies. Dudu Manhenga is the chair for the Association for Women in Performing Arts in Zimbabwe (AWIPAZ). She was also a board member of the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe.

Career as a Pastor

In 2016, Manhenga confirmed to Sunday Mail that she was now a Pastor with Jubilee Christian Centre under Pentecostal Assemblies of Zimbabwe. She became a deaconess in 2010 before becoming a pastor.

Speaking about becoming a pastor Dudu Manhenga insisted that she did not surrender her life to ministry because of the trial and prison experience. She said:

Around 2006, there was a prophetic word saying l was supposed to be a church minister. Right at that time, my father told me to drop this stuff (music) and go to Bible School. But at that time, my name was getting famous, I was a Jonah. So he (father) would always say that you know you are taking a winding path. I was enjoying the tours, the traveling. The thought of sitting in Bible School gave way to the thought that I would starve, my children would not have shoes on their feet. But there are events that I am not ready to share with the public that led to this wake-up moment. God said there is no way out. God showed me a certain defined and distinct way.

^[4][2]

Discography

• Bengimthandile
• Mvura
• We Langa
• Kudala
• Zvapressa
• Sekukude

Books

Dudu Manhenga is also a poet. She has published a trio of books started in 2017 which she named ‘3notkord’, quoting the Scripture ‘… a cord of 3 strands is not quickly broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:12b). The books are:

• 3notkord: Questions, Assumptions and Conclusions (2017)

• Past, Present & Future (2022)

• His Daughters (To Be Released)^[5]

Accident and Death of a Cyclist

Manhenga was alleged to have caused the death of a cyclist, Graham Martin Millward in 2010 due to negligent driving.^[6] Manhenga was in 2013 convicted of culpable homicide for causing the death of a motorcyclist in an accident in 2010. Initially sentenced to 18 months in prison, the sentence was wholly suspended with the artiste paying a $1 000 fine after a short stay at Chikurubi Maximum Prison.^[7]

After her return from prison, Manhenga was more relieved because she could now put the legal proceedings behind her. Said Manhenga:

The first step to recovering is to accept what has happened. I thank God I’ve always been the sort of person who quickly accepts things. This accident had happened in 2010 and in 2013 when everything was coming out, I was thinking ‘may this thing end already’. I prepared for the worst and there were so many disturbances in my life during that period. If I was to write a book about my experience in prison, the title would be, Not home, not hell. For me, being in prison was sort of a relief as I was like ‘finally, I can get this behind me because this case had hung over our family for a long time, the court procedures and all. It became more prison being out of prison than being in there.

Picture Gallery

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References