A WEEK ago I was at my friend’s in Maware, Chikomba East.
Late into the night and over wise waters, a village veteran was talking about an ailment that had recently afflicted his mother. To him there was no argument that this was mamhepo and the witches behind this malady resided in the village.
He had since sought help from a renowned healer and the mother’s condition was improving. When he mentioned Unyetu as the area where the renowned healer came from, I got very curious and asked about the name.
As he struggled to recall the name I shouted ‘Gideon’ and the village veteran stood to shake my hands. Not only had I rescued his memory but here was a visitor who could now vouch for the healing claims. Clearly a prophet has no honour in his home area….I had always considered Gideon a charlatan.
As the holy waters took hold, the gathering splintered into several smaller groups until my friend’s uncle called for order.
Dare rimwe, dare rimwe! Hatidi donga watonga, svondo yekwaGwavava! my friend’s uncle admonished the imbibers. He felt the creeping chaotic discussions were disrespectful of me, his guest.
The gathering had touched a number of issues; from the devastating drought, the age of consent and ills afflicting the party. In the end uncle lost the battle to control the discussion and the gathering continued to disintegrate until we all eventually found our way to our homes early the following morning.
I found the second part of his admonishment quite amusing and imagined all manner of indiscipline in the Gwavava congregation. Most likely there was nothing amiss with the Gwavava community. It was just a distant community convenient for effect in my uncle’s reprimand.
Indiscipline troubled uncle that night. Discipline binds families. It gives them hunhu…their humane identity. In revolutionary movements discipline and ideology are the bedrock on which the movement is founded.
No revolutions can be built on the mythical Gwavava church. I am currently reading Agrippah Mutambara’s biography, The Rebel in Me. From what I have gathered so far it could be retitled, The Disciplined Cadre in Me. Discipline, principle/ideology are cross-cutting issues in his story. What I found most interesting about this is what he has to say about the ‘slogan’. He offers prophetic counsel in the light of today’s happenings.
Through the instrument of slogans we acclaimed our President, venerated those leaders who solidly supported our armed struggle, chastised our enemies and expressed our hopes and aspirations. ‘Long live Comrade Mugabe’ and ‘Down with imperialism’ were common and popular slogans.
We never, as a matter of policy, glorified through slogans any of our living comrades, irrespective of what position they held in the party (ZANU) or within the ranks of the fighting forces (ZANLA), except for our president. In the ‘Long live’ bracket were leaders like President Samora Machel, President Julius Nyerere and Chairman Colonel Mengishtu Haile Marium.
The ‘Down with’ bracket lumped the likes of Ian Smith and Botha, with whom we were locked in direct combat; Nyathi, a traitor who defected from our struggle and caused the deaths of hundreds of our comrades at Nyadzonia Refugee Camp; Ndabaningi Sithole, Abel Muzorewa and Jeremiah Chirau – quislings and renegades who joined the Smith bandwagon in an internal settlement designed to derail and undermine the revolutionary armed struggle; and even Dr Kenneth Kaunda, President of Zambia, who we accused of complicity in the assassination of Comrade Herbet Chitepo by the Rhodesian regime, and of using that assassination as a pretext for arresting the ZANU/ZANLA leadership on trumped up charges.
Slogans were also used to teach right from wrong. If for instance you were caught stealing or selling donated goods, more often than not you would be lashed at the parade ground in front of everyone else. After flogging you were expected to shout slogans along these lines, ‘Forward with the struggle’… ‘Down with stealing.’
That was then, Mutambara time.
Today, Pekeshe time, glorification through slogans is no longer a preserve for President Mugabe.
The ‘Down with’ bracket is laden with references to fellow comrades.
Are we disintegrating into svondo yekwaGwavava?