By Vitalis Ruvando

THIS narrative conflates Africa Day, unveiling of the statue of the iconic Mbuya Nehanda and Culture Week celebrations. 

Lest we forget, Mbuya Nehanda’s rural community ethos was vetoed by Fort Salisbury (now Harare).

Comparatively, sections of the media disrespect the recent unveiling of the Mbuya Nehanda statue in Harare. 

Viewed otherwise, this article unpacks one fieldwork outcome from 32 years of longitudinal studies in 20 of 64 rural district communities of Zimbabwe.

It navigates Gutu rural community ethos that archives and riddles repositories of hindsight knowledge on paleolithic Zimbabwe Map, Bird and Conical Tower.

The aim is to inculcate a cultural big picture sophism while revealing the founts and vibrancy of Zimbabwe’s cultural diversity using rural community ethos. 

This is done by deconstructing non-African perceptions on Zimbabwe’s stone heritage that manifest as a basic and buoyant rural community ethos.

By chance or design, Gutu rural community ethos has a robust databank, loaded with secreted national symbols. 

This adorns valued existing rural community (identity) ethos with a grand position. 

It all started in 1990. 

A Khoisan community sage, Rakondo, posed a shocker: “Jakata: Paradise (Gutu) is our ‘home’. 

We leased this ‘home’ to Hungwe people but we are associated with Chinese ancestry.”

Phylogeny-based desktop research (www.Quora.com//) unites Chinese with Khoisan as progenies of Hamitic tribe with comparable Eurasian DNA

Perhaps telepathy or paradisiac nostalgia for Africa explains why China is her all-weather friend during struggles for independence and against Western sanctions.

Said Lydia Damara: “We are the unsung creators of hunting trophies, body building and pornography, maybe rock paintings in Jakata depict such things.”

Evidently, myriad rock paintings manifest all over Gutu District. 

In 1992, entering the courts of ‘the guardians of the land’, Sekuru Kandisai was enlightening: 

“I’m happy you are here. 

“School learners are tutored in classrooms; crusaders on national identity, unity, pride, truth and reconciliation are guided in the courts of the guardians of the land.” 

Later, he showed this researcher the palaeolithic face of God: Sororezhou which he allied to Tsholotsho in Matabeleland North and Thohoyandou in South Africa.

“The voice of Sororezhou was heard in Zhame Cave in Rasa Hills. However, there are many images linked to Hungwe people around Jakata,” he said.

Sekuru Kandisai said that Jakata (Gutu) was occupied by Hungwe, Shoko people before the Gumbo people negotiated for this land.

During the dawn of the Second Republic, this researcher sought further enlightenment from the courts of Mbuya Gore.

Conflating phenomenological techniques with insights gained from her courts, this writer rediscovered what appears to be two paleolithic maps of Zimbabwe. 

The third map had been disclosed in the courts of Mbuya Marumbi Karivara when this researcher was still a research student in 1992. 

While assessing ritual places used by Hungwe people, this researcher came head-on with ‘claims of national or sovereign significance’.

On July 2020, around 4:45pm, this researcher saw what seemed to be paleolithic Zimbabwe Birds from ritual places used by Hungwe people.

The surprised Village Head and Chief Gutu confirmed this observation.

On January 15 2021, an early morning visit to one Machingura permitted this author to see San paintings on pornography, body building and hunting trophies.

This researcher also saw paleolithic design of what seems to be the Conical Tower at Dzimbahwe city. 

Brain-teasers round European explorers stirred up.

First, Joao de Barros (1552) said: “When and by whom, these edifices were raised, as the people of the land are ignorant of the art of writing, there is no record, by they say are the work of the devil.”

Second, James Theodore Bent (1892) noted: “The names of Solomon, the Queen of Sheba were on everybody’s lips, and have become so distasteful to us that we expected to hear them again without an involuntary shudder.” 

In response to de Barros and Theodore Bent, community sages proffer that writing is to scriptofilial what oral transmission is to verbofilial communities. 

Perhaps knowledge on Karanga ethno-epistemology deluded de Barros and Bent.

Many times, Karanga people use ‘distaste’ and ‘devil’ to dodge enquiries probing their intellectual properties.

Furthermore, rural community sages across Gutu doubt narratives on Google websites: e-chipangamazano.

e-chipangamazano collections suggest that Portuguese, Phoenicians, Queen Sheba, Chinese as well as the Lemba designed and constructed Dzimbabgwe city.

May be the Gokomere narrative by Gilbert Pwiti (2004) is closer to conjectures tendered by the majority of Gutu rural community sages. 

Resulting from insights adopted from Mbuya Marumbi Karivara courts, a paleolithic heart design and mushroom rock: Chitauri resembling the other in Matopo were rediscovered by to this researcher.

Said Mhungu: “Combined with lengthy caves or tunnels around Gutu, Kubiku city and ninga: ancient Heroes’ Acres, a vibrant paleolithic and medical tourism can dawn in Gutu district.”

Given all the spectaculars, wake-up calls for celebrating the vibrancy of rural traditions and cultural diversity for dialogue and development can materialise.

“Perhaps claims on paleolithic Zimbabwe maps; Birds, Sororezhou and Conical Tower designs were submitted to the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services,” retorted a cultural consultant, Victor Mugwagwa. 

Based on 32 years of empathetic extrapolations, the eidetic intuition earned from custodians of our cultural heritages suggest to:

• Research, documentation and registering indigenous cultural innovations as intellectual properties using available and accessible media platforms; 

• Develop national, continental or global linkages with likeminded institutions; 

• Adopt sustainable avenues that can uphold extended family unity, national identity, unity, pride, truth and reconciliation as well as pan-Africanism;

• Translate knowledge society to knowledge economy by transforming viable ideational culture to material culture, change indigenous cultural frameworks into economic enterprises; build Cultural Training Colleges and hospitals;

• Provide clear guidelines and short timeframes on proposing and implementing culture-based projects; 

• Translate attractive yet uncharted landscapes to culture-based tourism or medical tourism centres;

• Translate key components of indigenous culture into frontiers that can cultivate nationalism, patriotism, pan-Africanism and statesmanship;

• Facilitate in limiting and monitoring application progress as a way to minimise subsequent religious conflict or sabotage, bureaucratic delays or adverse red carpet influences;

• Motivate sages who can traverse the human and spirit world to grow herbal industries with full protection from the intellectual property offices. 

Arguably, if rural paleolithic designs (300 000 BC) prospered Dzimbahwe 

(10 000 BC), likewise the Second Republic (20 00 AD) can adopt rural community ethos. 

Lest we forget, we can destroy tomorrow by marginalising yesterday.

If sneezes from Parliament and coughs from the corridors of the Presidium presage the looming Bill on culture then Zimbabwe is on the mend.

Perhaps the Bill will equip cultural aficionados with legal frames and fast-track the growth of culture beyond ease of doing business or One-Stop-Shop Investment Centre.

No doubt, brain-teasers proliferate whenever a renewed cultural paradigm dawns. 

May be the promulgation of an Act of Parliament and its alignment to our Constitution in spearheading cultural development will be a dream come true. 

“There is immeasurable promise in developing and including our cultural diversity in socio-economic edges,” said Chief Njelele. 

Indeed, it is in developing our culture that statesmanship and patriotism unfold.

Claims on paleolithic images can be treated as a fundamental issue deserving swift attention from the rural poor, Government and State. 

Our Second Republic can embody and immortalise emerging rural community frontiers, prop cultural development, promote dialogue, unity of purpose and unity in diversity as precursors to igniting Zimbabwe again and forever.