I REMEMBER very well when I approached another hero who befitted your status, the late Cde Alexander Gora Kanengoni, with an offer to write about the music that made this country become what it is today.
I remember you calling me when the story got pulished and urging me to keep up the good work then.
You said I was a patriot and should drink a scud, your favourite brew before you became ill, because I had done a good job.
Today I remember you with the same article we did some two years ago. Here is the story based on the interview we had together Comrade.
As African countries gained independence from colonial rule in the 1970s, their governments recognised that support for indigenous musical genres was a crucial step in restoring cultural pride.
Countries established policies which promoted traditional music and dance by establishing national dance and music ensembles, organising festivals and promoting performing artistes whose repertoire was drawn from traditional sources.
In Rhodesia, where the media and recording industry were controlled by the white minority until 1980, music became a political tool used by both sides to communicate messages of solidarity to their respective communities; but while the white media could afford to be overt, black musicians were forced to be covert.
In the 1970s, musicians began singing lyrics in the Shona language couched in adages and innuendos which concealed messages of resistance to white rule.
This musical style became known as Chimurenga music or ‘struggle’, the name also given to the liberation war which lasted from 1965 to 1980, when Zimbabwe gained independence.
Along the road to Zimbabwe’s independence, music played an essential role of unifying the freedom fighters and the masses, at the same time raising their morale through messages that defined the purpose of the armed struggle.
In a bid to preserve the morale of freedom fighters in camps and the morale of the masses at home, song and dance was used to educate, inform and entertain.
Freedom fighters used music and dance at all night gatherings (pungwes) to educate the masses (povo) about the objectives of the armed struggle.
The songs, war cries of the struggle, clearly defined the objectives of the liberation war.
‘Mukoma nhongo bereka sabhu tiende’, ‘Nyika yedu yeZimbabwe’, ‘Tinodawo nyika’, ‘Sendekera mukoma Chakanyuka’ and ‘Emoyeni Kuyatshisa’ are some of the songs that were continuously sung and danced to by freedom fighters and the povo during the armed struggle.
Talented comrades such as your collegues Cde Vhu of Light Machine Gun (LMG)Choir and groups like Kasongo Band comprising Knowledge Kunenyati, Marko Sibanda and Mukoma Ketai Muchawaya churned out songs that motivated the cadres who were at the front to continue fighting the enemy.
Zimbabwe became independent from colonial oppression on April 18 1980 with the event also celebrated in song and dance.
To a great extent, music was a powerful tool in driving the war of liberation. Some scholars have since argued that indeed the war was won partly through song and dance, drama and poetry.
Those who participated during the war had left their homes, their beloved wives, children and parents in pursuit of one goal, to liberate the country from the yoke of colonialism.
In a war environment, there is a lot of emotional stress from the deaths, injuries and violence. Above all, the stress of living in the bush, away from the comfort of one’s home and family.
There had to be ways of dealing with stress and easing of tension as the war progressed.
Music, song, dance and drama became a common phenomenon during the war of liberation.
As one scholar said: “Music plays a powerful role in society. It plays a prominent role in the ability to create associations to place and to cause emotional impact. Music has the potential to influence emotions and to positively express the sense of belonging to a specific group; it can also communicate antagonistic attitudes towards other groups.”
Zimbabwean music not only predates colonialism but also links to Zimbabwean historical and cultural processes. Many of the songs are about the problems of the poor, and most of the musicians live in the same locations as their listeners.
Music is a central part of Zimbabwean society in times of war and peace at workplaces, in the home and outdoors, in religion and social ceremonies (rain-asking, collective labour, religion, marriage, death or love).
Zimbabwe’s war of liberation started in 1966, which marked the Second Chimurenga (war of liberation). During that time, guerillas used to do night vigils known as pungwes and these were gatherings which were meant to provide entertainment, relieve stress and inspire the fighters.
Songs that were composed during that time mirrored the trials and tribulations of the oppressed masses. It gave society hope and the zeal to fight oppression.
Music and poetry were tools and forms of social commentary that were used to move the masses to act. Several talented musicians emerged in the bush, and composed music that inspired the guerillas.
Musicians like Dick Chingaira (aka Cde Chinx), LMG Choir and ZANLA Choir, composed inspirational songs that drove the war of liberation. Songs like ‘Maruza imi’ (You have lost) suggesting that the Rhodesians had lost the war became anthems during pungwes and they gave the fighters hope that indeed the war would be won.
Other compositions merely played a unifying role as they created a strong bond among the fighters who were drawn from different tribal and geographical backgrounds.
Songs like ‘Nzira dzemasoja’ (A soldier’s code of conduct) were songs that guided the conduct of the guerillas in the bush, how fighters must behave, the rules and regulations, not to exploit or rob the masses, to return anything confiscated in furthering the struggle.
Cde Chinx, you used music as a mobilisation tool to recruit fighters and bond them with the masses.
There are other musicians who were not necessarily at the battlefront but whose music inspired the struggle and the masses of this country.
But you championed the plight of the rural masses by singing protest songs which criticised the colonial regime.
Before independence you composed songs such as ‘Pasi na Nyathi’ which decried what the sellout did at Chimoio
During the colonial period, your music spoke against white supremacy under the Rhodesian regime. Your music carefully spoke against oppression and the repressive regime and how the black people were suffering because of colonisation.
Undoutably Cde, you join other luminaries who have furthered the struggle through the pen like Christopher Magadza, Freedom Nyamubaya, Alexander Kanengoni and Thomas Bvuma who focused on the fighters’ experiences during the war.
Fare thee well Cde Chingaira!