Mhuri ye Zimbabwe
Author: Munhumutema TN
Published: 2012

By Davet Muzwidzwa

THE Book, Mhuri ye Zimbabwe is divided into two parts.
The first part is the foundation philosophy of the people of Zimbabwe which is unique to Zimbabweans among people of the world in general.
The Zimbabwean foundation is based on the ‘hunhu/untu/utu’ concept that differentiates them from the rest of Africa where the colour of the skin is the same.
Munhumutema rejects the notion that Africans are differentiated through language where most are called Bantu; rather he accuses those who called Africans ‘Bantu’ of displaying ignorance about Africans.
He indicates that language is dynamic and continues to change as people live apart for longer periods.
Munhumutema produces a clear analogue of the foundation of the Zimbabwean people.
He persistently argues that the unit or nucleus of the Zimbabwean society is the family.
Several families bound by the same totem develop into a Dzinza of which several of these maDzinza bound by the same ‘hunhu’ forms Mhuri ye Zimbabwe.
He mourns that the partition of Africa by the greedy Europeans distorted the Zimbabwean family.
A big portion of the Zimbabwean family from the Indian Ocean was parcelled to the Portuguese who brought their name Mocambique.
The other part was given to the British who named it Rhodesia.
Other sections of the Zimbabwean family were swallowed by Botswana and South Africa.
Thus the Zimbabwean people became scattered in different colonies.
Munhumutema contrasts the rich family based human hood of Zimbabweans with the bankrupt individualism of Europeans who imposed themselves upon Africa in general and Zimbabwe in particular.
Under the Zimbabwean ethos, a child belongs to the family, wealth belongs to the family and land belongs to the family.
This is contrasted with the njake njake of the Europeans where the individual is more important than the family.
The njake njake approach is full of selfishness which resulted in the imposition of colonies in Africa that included Zimbabwe.
This individualistic selfish people did not see anything wrong in selling and buying people to work as slaves in the sugar plantations of Americas.
Mhuri ye Zimbabwe places great importance on the home.
The setting of the Zimbabwe story is in the home.
Families have homes; several homes make up Musha which is a self-sustaining unit of the Zimbabwean people.
Several Misha make a Dunhu which in turn several Matunhu make up the Zimbabwean people/family.
The second part of the book Mhuri ye Zimbabwe is an analysis of the cultural practice of the Zimbabweans.
Munhumutema looked at various practices that include various aspects of marriage, child bearing and rearing, aspects of divorce, handling illnesses, practices upon death, post death practices and inheritance practices.
The second part also looked at the emotive issue of religion.
The book highlighted that the Zimbabwean people are a God-fearing people who worship only one God, Musiki.
The book highlights the cardinal rules of hunhu handed to the first created African ancestor by God.
These include; truthfulness, humbleness, love, respectfulness, understanding, mercifulness, self restraint, hardworking and obedience.
The book says that following these dictates of the Zimbabwean religion brings harmony to the families and the opposite result in a curse by God.
Munhumutema raises the issue of religious imperialism targeted at Africa.
Many religions came to Africa from Europe, Arabia and Asia to propagate their ways marginalising the African ways of worshiping God.
The book recommends that Africans should worship in their ways like other people of the world such as Jews, Arabs, Indians, Chinese and Europeans.
Their spirituality will bring them to their God.
Mhuri ye Zimbabwe goes on to articulate the spiritual world of the Zimbabwean people.
The book ranked the spirits from the family level to the level close to God.
They start as Mudzimu at a family level, mondoro at chieftain level, Makombwe at a people level and Mhepo which forms the spirit world.
In general, Munhumutema exploits our proverbs and idioms in a uniquely enriching manner making them present vivid contexts under which they were developed. (Kuwanda huuya. Kugara Kunzwana. Kuvhanga/kukanya mukaka hurangana. Mhosva yekudeura ropa remunhu inoripwa nemunhu. Patsika rekutanga ndipo pachatsika reshure.) And so on.
It is my honest submission that Munhumutema is charting the deeper waters of our being.
This book is a candid presentation of the Zimbabwean story with no holdbacks. Several issues neglected by earlier writers have been captured particularly in the philosophical realm of our being.
The concept of the family as a pillar of the Zimbabwean people has been taken care of.
Munhumutema laments lack of writing in our past.
This book has left a number of questions still to be explored.
It has exposed hidden treasure in our past, our collective memory that requires further documentation.
This book has hinted that hunhu/untu/utu, was handed to the first creation of our people by God making us a unique people, it will be unfair to the future generations if Munhumutema does not explore our past back to creation.
Our children want to know.
I strongly recommend that this book finds its way into the education system particularly as a set-book at Ordinary Level and Advanced Level, to inculcate some Africanness and Zimbabweaness in them as mbuva in their venture into the wilderness of globalisation.
For feedback, email: dmuzwidzwa@gmail.com