HARARE – Winky D has been named winner of the 2021 Accountability Music Award for his politically-charged song, Njema.

A joint joint project between Accountability Lab, the African Union and ONE, the award is won by artists “changing their countries for the better” and celebrates musicians are using their music “to support transparency and accountability around the world.”

Winky D’s victory was announced on December 9, which is International Anti-Corruption Day.

In a message posted on Instagram, Winky D thanked his fans: “Thank you for the love and support.”

For years, Winky D has used his music to highlight the growing frustrations of “ghetto youths” with all the social ills spawned by economic mismanagement and failure of government – unemployment, poverty, drug addiction, uncontrolled diseases and lost dreams.

The singer’s politically-conscious lyrics have earned him cult status among his followers, a fan base which keeps cultivated by an economic crisis that has only got worse in the last two years after President Emmerson Mnangagwa toppled long-time leader Robert Mugabe who for a spell was the target of Winky D’s searing commentary.

The singer has maintained for a long time that he only projects the reality of the desperation and hopelessness that pervades township life – but he now appears ready to take in a step further and offer leadership to a pathway out of the crisis.

In Njema, Winky D offers up himself as a Moses on a mission to take the people from Egypt to Canaan.

‘Njema’ is a Shona word for ‘chains’ or ‘handcuffs’. The album artwork for the 2019 album with the same title features Winky D wearing a crown made of chains.

“It’s those chains that we must unlock. It’s the chaining of the minds; we need to unchain our minds. That’s what it all means,” Winky D said.

The album also featured the song, ‘Ijipita’, Shona for ‘Egypt’, the Biblical land of slavery under Pharaoh. Winky D sings that Zimbabweans are sheep without a shepherd, now they need to remove their shoes and brace for the gruelling task of trudging across the desert to their freedom in Canaan.

“Tabvunza zvirimberi hakuna adaira (We asked what lies ahead but no-one answered),” he says, warning that resistance to Pharaoh (Mnangagwa) could yield unexpected outcomes.

Zimbabweans, Winky D adds in another line, must be prepared to go where their mothers are not – which could be interpreted as seeking greener pastures abroad, or putting themselves in the line of danger for greater good.