The MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai has been publicly criticized for producing and launching a music album with songs that replace the name of Jesus Christ with that of their leader Tsvangirai. Christian believers have taken umbrage at that conduct for they deem it blasphemous. In any case, they have argued that it is improper to mingle politics with religion.
The album is called Tsikamutanda.
The party this week launched the controversial album they recorded for fundraising purposes. It carries church songs that have been altered  into party morphs. The album contains church hits such as “Ndiye Jesu Wacho Anerudo” previously praising Creator. Now the same compilation is branded with MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s name as the object of worship (See video). The video shows national spokesman and senior lawyer, Douglas Mwonzora featuring as a lead vocalist.

Bulawayo legislator Thabitha Khumalo has however spoken against the criticism made against the party as unfair since other political parties like ZANU PF have done the same in the past.
Noted below was a panel discussion conducted on Thursday soon after Miss Khumalo had complained. The discourse involved ZANU PF Chairman Nick Mangwana, Political Analyst Gracian Masiyiwa, and MDC UK chairperson Tonderai Samanyanga who added his contribution afterwards.
 
Thabitha Khumalo (MDC-T): It’s amazing how when as MDC we convert church songs to revolution songs we are accused of turning Tsvangirai into a mini God but when it is done by any other party, it’s okay. How sad. Anyway, nothing will dent our spirits as no-one can touch them, and victory is certain.
Nick Mangwana (ZANU PF): Oh well the first thing I would say is where is the evidence? And then the second thing is to see the context under which everything has been done. We are just about to approach Easter, and then you release a song in a community which is a predominantly Christian society(Zimbabwe), and you release that song which replaces Jesus with Tsvangirai after a couple months ago, when we witnessed the deification of Tsvangirai by (Nelson) Chamisa; I think we are going to a level somebody is going to be made a god soon. So in essence of what ZANU PF is alleged to have done, without putting a song there, I cannot comment, but here we have a song and to see clearly a distortion of Christianity, where Tsvangirai is actually made into a son of God, and I think its almost blasphemous (sic). That’s my position.
Simbarashe Chikanza(ZimEye): Mr Masiyiwa you are connected to the Christian community and you have been involved in opposition politics, what is your view on this Sir?
Gracian Masiyiwa: First of all I haven’t listened to the songs. But just answering from my knowledge of politics and my knowledge of religion as well, I agree with someone who says that ZANU PF has done this type of a thing before, during the liberation struggle, and in some way; But the fact that ZANU PF has done it before, doesn’t make it a good thing. In general I don’t think it is a wise thing to replace Jesus with someone else’s name. Care should have been taken:  – when seeing the religious songs I know they are impressive and the tunes and the melodies and the discourse around them are very easy to appeal to people’s minds but should we replace Jesus or God with someone else’s name? It is not good………
Simbarashe Chikanza: So are you all saying that there is no song that praises Robert Mugabe, taken from a church song? Are you saying this is something that only happened during the liberation era?
Gracian Masiyiwa: As a Christian society it is very easy to convert some religious songs into political. But it depends on how  we use them. But we cannot replace a name of a deity and put an individual’s name there such that credit goes to that person and not God .
Nick Mangwana:  Your question was whether there is a song out there, which praises Robert Mugabe? I am not aware. I am not saying there is none, but I simply am not aware. If you ask for my personal view, whoever does it is wrong. And we are celebrating the crucifixion of Jesus, and the redemption of the world, and at that point you release an album which tallies where Jesus is actually replaced by  Tsvangirai, which makes Tsvangirai the sacrificial lamb of God. I think it is actually blasphemous and I will maintain that. And my co-panelist has said, whether ZANU PF has done it, or whatever time they did it or allegedly, it doesn’t make it right. It is not right. …. In that case they are losing relevance and they are trying to gain Tsvangirai some relevance by doing this. Actually the lyrics of the song are Jesus Ndakamuona Nekurururama. Now everywhere there is Jesus, they are putting Tsvangirai.
Tonderai Samanyanga:   Songs can be transformed into anything. There are original songs that came about; Even in the church itself, there are some songs that have been transformed from somewhere. If you look today some church songs have already been sung in other organisations….When people form songs, they will be focusing at the directions of the day, and looking at the past directions. So it is not only in politics, even in the church people transform songs. So whether they are talking about replacing the Lord with Tsvangirai, no one would subscribe to that and I don’t see anything pertaining to that. During the war we did have songs which we sang for our leaders. We did have songs from the church which we sang taking them into our situation, and that is common. So for us to focus on that album which is coming out and make it an issue or a subject matter, myself I don’t think it is justified for those who are saying we have transformed church songs to glorify somebody. We are in a struggle and we have to look at what inspires us. If we are coming from a Biblical background, we are usually associated with the Biblical songs, and that’s why it is easy to do that. If we are coming from a liberation struggle we would see that there are songs that talk about the liberation struggle. You would see that there are songs that talk about our own tradition, where we petition the ancestors, those are the songs that transformed our struggle today; so I don’t see anything abnormal in all those things. But it’s only that some people feel so bad that they could be popular that they can sway the focus of the people when you are talking about somebody in a way that resonates with many people . That is why there are those critics.