THE VOICE OF PRAISE: Praise, worship weapons of spiritual warfare

SIMBARASHE MSASANURI
Dar es Salaam

MUSIC is an art form whose medium is sound and, though there are lot of common elements such as pitch, rhythm and dynamics, talent is what makes musicians. Many people have failed to make it in the music industry because they lack the talent to produce products that easily win the hearts of listeners.

It is only those with natural talent who can capture the attention of people and make an impact in an industry saturated by reputable musicians who are already household names.

The latest offing, a debut album, recently unleashed by The Voice of Praise, titled 'Tunakuabudu', is clear testimony that the voices behind the compositions are not mere pushovers and are destined for greater heights.

Listening to the album is a lifetime opportunity that leaves one craving for more, something that shows that the compilation was done in a manner that exhibits artistic prowess. It shows that, the two musicians behind the group, Anchilla Kimaro and Athanas Chagula, possess natural talent that will take them places.

Having a chance to watch these two perform is something that will leave people's lives changed for ever. And, this reporter besides having had a chance to witness one of the performances, managed to catch up with the musicians to tap more into the people behind the melodious voices.

“The name of the group was derived from Isaiah 43 verse 21 and 1 Peter 2 verse 9, that points out that people were created to praise God,” says Kimaro, adding that when God created man, He gave him one of the most unique instruments, the voice, which besides being a communication tool is meant to praise Him.

She added that it was last year when as a choir leader, she saw a gift in Athanas and decided to combine efforts and come up with an album.

On the topic of the album, Athanas says that it is in line with the name of the group because you can't praise somebody you don't worship. “The title of the album, 'Tunakuabudu', we are praising God and we urge people to praise Him with all their their being, resources and whole heartedly,” he adds.

The eight-track album, does not only depict maturity in the manner the songs are arranged but also contains bible-rich lyrics that easily ushers listeners into praising and worshiping God. The song 'Alpha and Omega' is a gem of a song that shows that only the sky is the limit for the two musicians as raw talent is at its best.

The song reminds Christians that God is the beginning and end of their lives to such an extent that without Him, they can't do anything. “He is above everything, there is no one we can trust rather than him and He is able,” says Kimaro.

Another song that is poised for greater heights is 'U Mwema'. “It talks about the goodness of God. It testifies about God's goodness. In this song, we used four languages, Swahili, Sukuma, Haya and Nyakusa,” says Athanas.

'Ni Wewe Tu' is another song that can easily win the hearts of listeners. The worshiping song focuses straight to God. “we are telling him that he is the only one in our lives. When we are blessed or challenged we go to him.”

'Tunakuimbia Sifa', 'Wewe Ndiwe Nguzo', 'Tunakuabudu' and 'Utawala' complete the album. They exhibit not only talent but maturity and will undoubtedly send shocking waves within the music circles, taking the talented musicians to another stage.

To show that talent runs in their veins and were born natural musicians, their talents can be traced as far as tender age. Kimaro was born in Nkaka Village, Nkenge District in Kagera Region and is the fifth born in a family of six children.

As if to prepare her for the task ahead, she enrolled at Kashasha Primary School, attended Kibasila Secondary School before crossing the border to enroll with Shallom Teachers' Training Centre in Nairobi.

Now, a teacher at Kingdom Heritage Model School in Dar es Salaam, Kimaro remembers that she liked singing and playing drums from a tender age. She joined church choir when she was in grade two and she was the attraction then as she used to sing with old people. This was not the end as at school she joined the school choir.

“When I got born again in 1985, one of the things that made me to be born again was the choir. I thank God because being in the choir made me to grow spiritually,” says the soft-spoken Kimaro, adding that she joined the Winners Chapel in 1997 and was one of the founding members of the choir in Dar es Salaam and have been singing in that choir ever since.

“I am one of the praise leaders in the choir and through the teaching I was getting, I realised that to me it's a gift and I decided to work on it. I have been reading books from our Bishop David Oyedepo and pastors working under him,” she adds.

Married to Fredrick Kimaro and blessed with four children, Kimaro thanks her husband for encouragement and being there for her. “ God has blessed me with four children and they are all singers to an extent that they can compose songs,” she says.

On the other hand, Athanas was born in 1984 in Geita District, Mwanza Region. And, just like Kimaro, he started singing at a tender age and has been singing with different groups since then. He also remembers singing with different groups in Shinyanga before moving to Dar es Salaam in 2003 where in 2004 he joined the AIC Dar es Salaam Choir until 2007.

“I then moved to Kitunda PATMO where I was a praise and worship leader up to 2008 in July when I joined Winners Chapel and have been there up today as a choir member and as one of the praise leaders,” says Athanas, adding “I thank God I met my sister here (Kimaro) and this is just but the beginning of where we are going.”

Kimaro interjects: “Everything one needs to reach his destiny is arranged. Athanas is an orphan, when he told me his story, I told him that what will take him further is in him. While he is doing his studies, it's good but there is something in us, you don't need to go to school for you to use your gift.”

She adds that as they named their album, they believe they are singing to praise God. “ We are not doing business, people will buy but our aim is that we want people to worship God,” adding that, we want to tell people that praising and worshiping God, when they do it with understanding they will get breakthroughs.

“Singing and praising God is one of the weapons you can use to defeat Satan. It is a weapon of spiritual warfare and it's more than dancing and jumping. People should do it with meaning,” she says elaborating that she has practiced what she is teaching as she is a living testimony of praising and worshiping.

“I don't know going to hospital and getting admitted, even with my children. It has been a weapon of warfare. I believe God even I am sick,” she adds.

On their future plans in the music industry, the musicians say that they were believing God for a DVD album and that people should be on the look out for another gem soon.

Government should intensify commitment to stop unnecessary spending

By Eugenia Madhidha

One day, some officials belonging to a certain organisation went for a workshop outside the country which was supposed to go for five days. Unfortunately due to reasons beyond their control, the workshop had to go for four days. And, when they got back to their office they claimed allowances for five days. Interestingly, their employer was wise enough to define the allowances for one day they did not attend the workshop as “unnecessary” which made the officials despondent claiming that they were treated unfairly.

The problem of unnecessary spending has been haunting humanity for a long time, but, just as another man's meat can be another's poison, so is the issue of spending where the classification of ‘unnecessary expenditure’ has been manipulated by some people who hide behind fingers to justify their spending.

However, though it might remain true that what people call unnecessary spending can vary and differ according to perception, the government in this country, realised that there was this problem within its ranks and vowed to tackle it.

It is against this background that, Sikika, a non-governmental that deals with health advocacy in Tanzania, recently warned the government (in a press release) that it should intensify its commitment to stop unnecessary spending for the benefit of the tax-payers and channel the money to developmental projects.

Though it came as good news that the sum of all unnecessary expenditures in the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as regions fell from 684 billion (bn) Tanzanian Shillings (TSh) in financial year (FY) 2008/09 to 530 bn TSh in FY 2009/10, which is a reduction of 22.4 percent. But, for the FY 2010/11 these expenditures are expected to rise slightly to 537 bn TSh, a move which contradicts the government’s stated commitment to spend its resources more wisely.

“People have a habit of “over claiming” when it comes to allowances and other benefits such as fuel. For example, someone wants to embark on a journey that will need only one gallon of fuel but will discover that the person claims two gallons. Why would one need two gallons of fuel when one is enough”, said Rufaro Chatora, one of the presenters representing WHO during a monthly breakfast debate organized by Policy Forum on controlling unnecessary expenditure at the British Council Dar es Salaam where the book titled Unnecessary expenditures: A Brief on the Government’s Initiative to Refocus Expenditure was launched.

It is impressive that Sikika in collaboration with Policy Forum, in the brief that can be found at www.sikika.or.tz and its first edition was produced in April 2010, identified six budget items that are considered to be severely laden with unnecessary expenditures as:- Training (domestic and foreign), Allowances (non-discretionary, discretionary, and in-kind), Travel (in-country and out-of-country), Acquisition of New Vehicles, Fuel, Oil and Lubricants and Hospitality Supplies and Services.

As much as the above-mentioned are important, the main concern here is that they are supposed to be reduced, for example, why should we have nine facilitators for one workshop which can be facilitated by three or so people and why should one get paid for attending allowances for five days while in actual fact he or she would have attended three days? Why should we keep on training the same people, the same thing and not giving others a chance?

It is fortunate that the government has also recognized this problem of unnecessary expenditure and has through its top officials like the Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda committed to increase control over and economize those expenditures. However, urgent measures have to be taken before the problem gets out of hand. The overwhelming rise of unnecessary expenditures is really distasteful and something has to be done about it as the money wasted can be utilised somewhere else for the benefit of the general public.
Urgent measures, therefore, need to be taken in curbing the problem which in most cases benefits the same group of people. It is high time that the government realizes unnecessary spending has ripple effects as in the long run, leads to failure in service delivery and lagging behind in development, something that disadvantages the public, who in most cases are the taxpayers.
It is also important that the general public have access to information when it comes to budgets, so that they can also be in a position to monitor and follow up on how funds meant to benefit them are used. This will go a long way in empowering wananchi so that their voices can be heard once their funds are misused.
The government should, therefore, put in place measures to curb unnecessary expenditure for the benefit of the public and make Tanzania a better place for everyone.