THIS week I write, once again, about writing and documenting.
These are subjects I will never tire of writing on or be satisfied that I have done them justice.
It is said every time an old African man or woman dies, it is akin to a library burning down.
What it means is that valuable information is lost.
But why do we have to lose this information?
With all the scholars we have and our high literacy rate, why are we not documenting our information?
We are losing our tsumo, zvirahwe, madimikira and ngano.
Do we know and appreciate the teachings, the values and technologies in our indigenous knowledge?
Who among us knows the story of the founding mothers and fathers of their clan?
We are losing histories that are barely 100 years old.
Zimbabwe, in the last decade, has gone through trying times but continues to forge ahead with its agenda of total emancipation and full control of its resources.
But do our young know the true story of Zimbabwe.
Do we even have stories about the last 15 years, produced by Zimbabweans for Zimbabweans?
Who is documenting our story as a nation?
It is mostly foreigners with a selfish agenda.
Do we know the story of our Chimurengas, the time before the coming of the whiteman, the Land Reform and Resettlement Programme, the Economic Indigenisation Programme?
We do.
But from whose perspective; whose discourse and voice dominate these narratives?
A tonne of books has been produced on these subjects but how many of them have been produced by our own?
We have launched, as a nation, a new curriculum.
And its objectives will only be met with the right books in place.
It is only with our knowledge systems that we will successfully and sustainably shape our national agenda and effectively tell the rest of the world our story.
The story of our bold initiatives, history, cultural heritage and the limitless potential of our natural and human resources cannot be disseminated or understood if it is only delivered orally; it must be put down on paper.
Let us all grab pen and paper and write away.
Illiterate Rhodies are penning books, copious volumes, extolling the virtues of Rhodesia.
Let us start now, not tomorrow, but now, to effectively occupy our cultural and discursive spaces in the manner that we have seized our political power and our land.
We are not only making this call just to the Zimbabwean scholar who has carved a reputation in the region and worldwide, we are inviting every citizen, every daughter and son of the soil.
Our young and old are a bottomless well of vital knowledge.
Let us import our traditions and values onto the latest technologies.
But we can only do so if they are documented.
Our children must be able to access authentic ngano dzaana Tsuro naSekuru Gudo on their gadgets.
They desire these stories, that is why we hear some of them recounting bastardised nganos of tsuro akadya cake obva anzwa mudumbu.
This is due to no fault of their own, they just do not have access to the authentic product.
Many of them are familiar with characters of Mickey Mouse, Alice in Wonderland and Cinderella for that is what they are reading, it is what is available.
It is high time we penned books about the enchanting Chaminuka, our own legend, who had the power to face bullets that would suddenly turn to water, package them and capture histories only told in folklore.
Let us feel agitated circulating empty jokes on social media when we can be using new media technologies to preserve our history as a Nation.
Let us start now.
Let us write, write and write.