The Carol Chivengwa-Mujokoro & Ivy Kombo-Kasi Egea puzzle

I have always wondered why Egea Gospel Train super brands Ivy Kombo-Kasi and Carol Chivengwa-Mujokoro rarely acknowledge each other's career contributions.

I interviewed Carol via written questions sometime in 2006, and the Ivy Kombo-Kasi part did not come out. I also spent a day with Ivy and Kasi some years back, but the name Carol did not appear. 

All that Kasi said when I asked him why there were rumours about an affair between Ivy and him was that there were some gospel musicians who wanted to be like Ivy spreading rumours.

It appears as if there is some discomfort when they talk about the Pastor Kasi-led Egea Gospel Train because most often it's mentioned in passing.

Maybe it could be true that Carol spilled the beans about the Ivy/ Kasi affair.

I still wonder . . .  

I could not meet gospel musician Carol Chivengwa-Mujokoro when I asked for an interview.

Instead, I was asked to send questions, which were then answered. In stating how she rose to prominence, Carol does not mention Ivy Kombo’s name.

That, too, is the same with Ivy - she does not mention Carol as a former partner. 

Maybe it's not important that they acknowledge each other's contribution to their success, or they were well-rounded musicians singing together at Egea.

That was around 2006/ 7 long after Carol had left the Ezekiel Guti Evangelistic Association (Egea) Gospel Train to pursue a solo career.

Egea, formed and led by Pastor Admire Kasingakore (Kasi), who was then a top pastor in Ezekiel Guti’s Zaoga, groomed some of Zimbabwe’s most prominent names in gospel music.

Apart from Carol, Ivy Kombo is now Kasi’s wife but was his adopted daughter. Then there was the late Jackie Madondo.

Carol’s Facebook page says the gospel diva was born in Goromonzi, Zimbabwe and grew up in Chitungwiza.

She then started singing before crowds at the tender age of eight before becoming a member of her church's Praise and Worship Team, where she led the Praise and Worship.

Carol formed a family band with her sisters, The Blessed Sisters, which invited her to minister at many church conferences and encouraged her to do even better.

At the age of 16, Carol recorded her first work with Egea Gospel Train - the album Mufudzi Wangu and three others - Ndinokudai Jesu, Vimba NaJehova and Kutenda.

Carol had Ivy Kombo, Mono Mkundu and Annie Kombo among others in the band.

By 1996, Egea was no more, and Carol pursued a first solo, which she released the album Ropa RaJesu.

Between 1999 and 2011, Carol released seven albums. To date, she has released 12 albums.

She is the only Zimbabwean gospel musician to record a live album, Carol Mujokoro in the Holy Land, in Israel in 2003.

She has also won several awards, including the 2000 Tinotenda Siyabonga Annual Music Award (TSAMA) for Best Female Artist and the 2012 ZimPraise legendary award in recognition of her contribution to Zimbabwe gospel music since 1992.

She graduated from the Africa Multination for Christ College (AMFCC) as a pastor and is in full-time pastoral ministry.

However, there is one thing that Carol does not seem to mention in her profiles: that she shared the stage with Ivy Kombo at Egea and that they sang as a team in most of the songs released by Egea.

Although Egea died when Kasi left Zaoga, some people say the actual reason why he left was his involvement with Ivy and that it was Carol who first spilled the beans.

There was a time when rumour circulated about Kasi’s romantic eye roving over Carol but was turned down.

The same rumour further claims that this resulted in Carol leaving to record her album elsewhere and the subsequent death of Egea.