LEROY DZENGA

Leroy Dzenga is an award winning Zimbabwean journalist and writer. He has interests in long form content, especially features. His areas of focus are Indigenous Knowledge, Development, Art, Education and History.

The Herald •

Of nifty hands, a curious mind

Vusani Mtetwa has used resources at his disposal to innovate

Leroy Dzenga Features Writer

A law firm office, a stone’s throw away from Rusape Central Business District houses a peculiar backroom. Things that happen in that tiny room are miles away from the core business occupying the rest of the yard.

At first glance, the small room looks like its walls were built to enclose scrap yard residuals. There is all manner of metals, plastics and wires.

It is organised chaos, as the owner describe
The Herald •

Little feet, huge footprints

Lovebirds, Tadiwa Kunzekweguta (26) and Laura Nyamutora (29) exemplify the saying “opposites attract” in many ways.Their story, a wedding photographer wooing an office administrator from a local security company, is one that can leave cupid smiling.A friend on social media unknowingly played matchmaker by introducing the two.After months of engaging on Facebook, they set a date at a local restaurant that put faces to the names.

The lovebirds confirm that the meeting, backed by prior conversatio
The Herald •

Unseen belief: Tale of a blind dreamer

Leroy Dzenga Features Writer —

With the odds stacked against her, Edith Masango showed that impossible is a state of mind Her resilience coupled with faith, saw her rise from a midlife setback which gave her suicidal thoughts to being the lead actor in a local film.

Despite losing her sight during birth to a rare condition called Retinis Pigmentoza, Masango did not allow her vision in life to be blurred out. The confident actress relooked into her life journey pointing out how her poor eyesig
The Herald •

The gentle giant who handles stars

Leroy Dzenga Features Writer

Those who frequent high-profile events, especially those in showbiz and the media, describe him as the gentle giant. A man whose physical built is tempting to stereotype until he opens his mouth to speak with a calmness that exudes professionalism.

Unlike most security personnel at events loosely referred to as “bouncers”, Keith Chirimanzi stands out as a deviant from the rest of the other characters in the trade who exert force at the expense of thought.

Since h
The Herald •

Youths and new age rock paintings

Social media is an escape for many youths and adults alike. It has become a reflective opium, today there are some who cannot live without it.

It is a place where some imagine how they would have recreated themselves if they had a chance. Through self-curated content, users have an opportunity to project an attribute or side they feel represents them better.

Sometimes this process is not the most laudable. Social media usage has drawn scorn, with some attributing social ills to its ever increa
The Herald •

When Cephas kissed the ball

RARE TALENT . . . Cephas Chimedza, who is now based in Belgium, was just a joy to watch on the pitch during his playing days at CAPS United

It was summer 2004, when a young plaited left-footed footballer dazzled Zimbabwe.

As was the ritual, Sunday afternoons meant football on television or sometimes stadium visits with my father.

On that day we decided to watch it on television.

My father, a staunch CAPS United supporter, would not move an inch from the television screen on match days.

Then
The Herald •

Poet Gabriel relocates to push vision

Leroy Dzenga Arts Reporter

Linda Gabriel is a name whose footprints in Zimbabwean poetry circles is now indelible. Her contribution to the creative space is a story those who witnessed the glorious Book Café days can tell comfortably.

When she began getting passport stamps on the back of her talent, very few were surprised. The writer grew from a fierce rebel poet in her early days, to being a lucid voice on key issues.

Her rich catalogue carries a piece which stands as one of the best poems
The Herald •

The man who captured Genius’ life

One of the pictures taken by Kirkpatrick in happier times

Leroy Dzenga

Features Writer

He was Zimbabwe’s foremost public hustler, a man of opaque sources of income, but clear spending habits.

Those who knew him vouched for his earnings’ legitimacy, while those who stood at a distance — including the taxman — held their doubts.

A child at heart, Genius Kadungure loved playing. Only that his toy collection ran into millions and his playground was an elite nightclub he owned and loved.

In u
The Sunday Mail •

Crystal Meth, the hurdle in Zim’s drug fight

“GUKAMUKAFELA, Dombo or Mutoriro,’ the beast has many names.

Crystal meth is perhaps the only substance that has competed with the Covid-19 pandemic in taking Zimbabwean lives over the past year or two. The highly addictive stimulant is hitting the country where it hurts the most, its youth.

Kutsomwa (hot pursuit), is the romanticised street reference describing a person under the clutches of the drug.

Sleep deprivation, paranoia, violence and hallucinations are among the behavioural manifest
The Herald •

The ghetto has lost its Soul

There is something called talent.

Hard to describe, but easy to feel.

It is like novel love, a display of utopian perfection with minimal effort. Talent is in itself spiritual; many get called, but the choice is always limited to a select few.

Limited to the likes of Chiwoniso Maraire, Beater Mangete, Samson Choruwa, Soul Musaka and a countable others. All of them poets, liquid beings who fit in their roles just as the heavens intended.

Excessively endowed with what others would kill for, bu