The ManicaPost
Cletus Mushanawani
News Editor
HE lost his wife, three cars, a job, property, family trust, friends and integrity, all because of drugs.
In just 12 months, life had turned upside down for popular musician, Tony Dee.
Fortunately, he saw the light and decided to call it quits.
Tony Dee is now a strong advocate for a drug-free life and is prepared to lead authorities to drug havens in Mutare so that they are busted and stopped from destroying lives.
He believes that God wants to use him as an anti-drugs ambassador. He is so determined to ensure that people are delivered from the drugs bondage.
In a recent interview, Tony Dee took The Manica Post through his drugs journey, rehabilitation and how it ended.
The genesis
Having been blessed with the ability to speak eloquently and influence people through songs and speeches, Tony Dee, also known as Mutumwa, is able to capture people’s attention.
As a qualified occupational safety health, environment and quality management practitioner having graduated with an Honours Degree from Midlands State University in 2006, Tony Dee secured employment in 2007 as a Safety Environment and Quality (SHEQ) officer at a mining company in Ngezi.
With a mine settlement of almost 15 000 people, Tony Dee was so influential at work as he was responsible for psyching up and motivating fellow employees before work.
He was also a role model to youths as he was a musician.
However, that fame brought him misery and missed opportunities.
“At my workplace, we used to get two salaries per month. My first encounter with taking crystal meth was around August 2020. Since we were well paid, ladies of the night from the length and breadth of Zimbabwe used to flood our workplace to ply their trade.
“By that time, my music was now popular and I had a band that I would rehearse with. We were relaxing at a lodge when some beautiful ladies came. These are the ladies that are now popularly known as “vana manjuzu”.
“I told my colleagues that I would win one of the ladies’ hearts at all costs. When one of the ladies walked straight to us, she said she was looking for Tony Dee and I identified myself.
“She said she had heard my music being played in a pub the previous night and had asked the DJs for the tracks, but they refused to give her. She asked for some tracks and I asked the band manager to avail the music to her.
“She went away, but came back later saying she appreciated my music so much. She said she was also into music and wanted to do a collaboration with me. I decided to get her into my car and we drove around.
“It was now late and she told me that she was booked at that lodge, but had not come for flesh peddling,” said Tony Dee.
He added: “We went into her room, but the door had no key and we had to push the bed against the door as an access control measure. We sat on the bed and we rolled a twist of dagga.
“Apparently, my first wife had passed on in 2013. Although I had no idea, this lady was aware of this. When she sat next to me, she sprang off after a second. When I asked her what was happening, she asked about my first wife and I was puzzled by that. She said she could see my first wife seated next to me and was stunned as she knew that my first wife was dead.
“Her voice suddenly changed and became hoarse. She asked me to call her aunt to bring her snuff. I called the aunt and she came, handed over the snuff to the woman. She started clapping her hands. I was confused by the development.
“When the woman took the snuff, her voice became hoarser and she started exhibiting weird behaviour — plucking off her artificial nails, eyelashes and wig, with the voice saying it did not want all those things on its medium.
“At first I thought the dagga was influencing her, but was shocked when she called me with my Chirandu totem, instructing me to sit down. I realised that everything had changed and obliged with the given instructions. I removed my shoes and sat on the ground.
“Apparently, my dad had passed on in 2015 and the lady started highlighting my family history. I used to have nightmares ever since my wife’s death in 2013. She asked me about the nightmares and produced a bulb with prepared crystal meth.
“She instructed me to take the stuff, saying it would make me feel great. They taught me to smoke the stuff. The devil designed that thing in such a way that the first time you hit it, you free extra hype. I felt so excited and told myself that this was the ideal thing for me. We hit it from 6pm until the following morning at 4am. To me, it came as a relief as I believed those nightmares were gone.
“I felt as if all my burdens had been uplifted from my shoulders. I felt as if I had found solution to my stress. That thing turns normal into abnormal. You will become a monster. Since we spent the whole night smoking the stuff, we could not sleep the following day as the drug gave us extra energy.
“In fact, we could not sleep for three days. I asked for the name of the drug and the ladies said it is called dombo and not crystal meth. In my mind I knew there is crystal meth, not dombo.”
From that day, Tony Dee fell head over heels in love with dombo.
He said the drug made him so creative and energetic in music as he went on to record 42 songs in 12 months.
In the past, he used to record between 10 and 12 songs per year.
“After taking the drug, one becomes so creative and energetic. The 42 tracks l recorded over the course of that year were so good. If you listen to them you will agree with me, but it was the devil’s work,” he said.
Tony Dee’s new found friends later showed him a bag full of the drug and told him they wanted to sell it in Ngezi.
There were different portions with different prices.
“Having been taking dagga from 1999, I was already living my life off-track and it was easy for the devil to attack me. Most artistes who would come to perform at my workplace used to sleep at my place.
“These drug peddlers took advantage of my popularity in Ngezi to introduce crystal meth in the area. They used me as the influential person to push their product. They had brisk business and some of the ladies even bought cars out of the business I had unknowingly assisted them to set up at my workplace,” said Tony Dee.
World falls apart
As the drug took a toll on his life, Tony Dee became a monster.
“I had problems with my wife and at my workplace. I would leave home at 5pm for our drugs base and come back the following morning when my wife would have left for work. This happened nearly every day for 12 months.
“During that year, I would say cumulatively maybe I only spent a month with my wife as I was always away from home taking the drugs. I could not eat and I lost a lot of weight. My mother once visited me in Ngezi and we had a nasty fall-out as I was always under the influence of drugs,” said Tony Dee.
He said the drugs led to lack of concentration at work and eventually his dismissal.
“It was during the Covid-19 era and we would have Zoom meetings with our Switzerland-based directors. I dozed off in one of the meetings as I had spent three days without sleeping. I had just undergone an operation and was on strong medication. My manager assumed that I had taken the medication and apologised to the directors on my behalf.
“I would struggle after taking the drugs. I became reckless with life. Even if I took US$1 000 for an outing, I would return home penniless and would struggle to raise money for fuel, even kombi fares.
“I sold three cars, an Izusu bought for US$27 000 was sold for US$16 000. I blew the US$16 000 within a week. I sold my Ford Ranger for US$6 000 and blew the money in two days. I sold a Toyota bought for US$8 000 at a measly US$3 000.
“I would sleep at luxurious hotels. Fortunately for me I still had a conscience and the inner me would tell me that I had gone rogue. The day I realised that dombo is crystal meth is the day I decided to quit.
“When I communicated my decision to quit the drugs to the ladies who had initiated me, they were obviously not amused but I remained resolute. The ladies called my bosses and told them about my addiction.
“The company tested me for the drugs and the results came back positive for crystal meth. I was suspended and went for a hearing. I wedged a spirited defence, but the hearing panel could not entertain it. I lost my job. I lost my wife, integrity, property and friends, all because of drugs,” said Tony Dee.
Rehabilitation
Through family support, Tony Dee was booked into a rehabilitation facility, although he was in denial.
He highlighted that rehabilitation is extremely expensive.
“I associated rehabilitation facilities with mental health. I relapsed into drugs again as there were a number of children from well to do families at the rehabilitation facility in Harare, so drugs would be smuggled into the facility. There was an ambassador’s son there.
“I later realised that it takes strong will to quit drugs. I drafted my own eight-paged recovery plan. Family support is key in one’s rehabilitation. You also need to pray because rehabilitation is a physical intervention and you can easily relapse. This thing is a spiritual warfare,’ said Tony Dee.
After four long months, Tony Dee beat his drugs addiction and was released from the rehabilitation centre.
He has been drug free since May 2022 and has no intentions of going back to drugs and substance abuse.
Advice to drug abusers
“To those who want to get into drugs, they should know that the moment they take the first hit, they would have signed a contract with the devil. Their life will take a negative trajectory. Everything that matters to them will be lost, be it family or trust. You will be working for the devil because whatever money you get; you will use it to buy drugs.
“Those harbouring thoughts of taking drugs should not do so. To those who are into it, I want you to know that it is very possible to quit. We can talk of cocaine and other drugs, but the major drug ruining lives in Zimbabwe is crystal meth.
“The key thing is to make a concrete decision that you are quitting the habit. It is not easy because when you make that decision, the devil will start fighting you. You should therefore be prepared for a bruising battle.
“The only way to win is to surrender the battle to God. I know drug havens in Mutare. I am willing to share the locations of where these drug lords are housed because I believe it is my calling to get these things off the streets,” said Tony Dee.
The artiste’s story comes at a time when Government has availed $500 million under the drugs and substance abuse mitigation fund as part of the Second Republic’s efforts to speed up high impact initiatives in the fight against the menace.
