Registered under the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe

27 October 2020

WIN Newsletter Vol 2, Issue No 15

 WE ARE STILL CELEBRATING THIS YEAR OF OUR 10TH

ANNIVERSARY

WITHOUT YOU, WE COULD NOT HAVE TRAVELLED THIS FAR!

 

EDITORIAL


Front cover of Tinosvika Here? one of the newly released books

 

Welcome to yet another loaded newsletter, a late October present for the keen-minded authors and readers..

WIN joins the ZIBFA and the whole book industry in mourning the death of Mr. Obey Bvute’s wife, Amai Bvute. Mr. Obey Bvute is the Managing Director of Priority Projects Publishing and may he be strengthened during this time of grief. Mama Bvute, your motherly love we shall indeed miss; may your soul rest in peace.

We thank you for being patient with our two other blogs which we haven’t updated for a long time now. As conditions continue to loosen in terms of the COVID-19, we hope to resume regular conduct of our activities as we have already started planning for 2021!

  Ladies and gentlemen, enjoy.


JUST FOR YOU!


                                             GET MORE INFO ON FACEBOOK

 

 NOTHANDO TO ATTEND 2020 OJAI PLAYRIGHTS CONFERENCE

 By Beaven Tapureta

 


 
Young Nothando Cindy Usayi, author of Dreams Under The Noonday Sun, continues to demonstrate she is destined for greatness in her arts career.

Last month, she was granted a scholarship together with other five high school students in Zimbabwe to participate in this year’s virtual Ojai Playwrights Conference Youth Workshop (OPCYW), an annual Californian theatre festival aimed at bringing together dramatists and help develop their new work.

This year, Almasi Arts and the Ojai Playwrights Conference have partnered to virtually unite youth from Zimbabwe and California at the two-month long OPCYW.

  The Arundel School student is thrilled to be part of this cultural exchange which has opened an opportunity to share her love for the arts with other students from California and she is grateful to her mentor.

I owe this scholarship to Miss Chelsy Nothando Maumbe and I am so excited and keen to see where this road will take me. I am waiting patiently to share my love for creativity with the world once again!” said Nothando.

Her namesake teacher teaches drama and heads the Arundel School Drama Department. In the spirit of developing her talented mentees, she heard about OPCYW and encouraged Nothando and others to apply.

For Nothando, the value of the conference lies in the learning opportunity it has presented.

 “I have never considered myself a playwright because my artistic bias has always been novel writing. However, my love for literature, acting and creating stories has been the driving force of my journey that began the day I was able to read my first word. It today has seen me anticipating a brand new path in playwriting. The OPCYW has given me a confidence in my writing that I never knew I needed until it arrived. Together with 15 other phenomenal writers, I am working passionately to learn from my peers, to give them insight about the life of a girl living in Zimbabwe and to improve not only my abilities as a writer but as an individual in today’s society,” she said.

Despite having successfully discovered her novel writing gift through the publication of her debut Dreams Under The Noonday Sun, an element for theatre has always been with her since 2018 when she joined her school drama department. She has been working with the highly esteemed department to help write and design plays.

In 2018 she helped write the plot of a play ‘Courts’ and assumed a minor role in its performance. The following year she acted in a support role in ‘Chatsworth Manor’ as a warm Sekuru who is the superintendent of an apartment complex whose tenants he has taken in as his own family. She also had helped in the plotting of the same play and was the props manager.

This year, she would be playing one of the main roles in a play called ‘The Kids ‘R’ Alright’.  In the play, she will be a husband and father of two who with his wife are planning to adopt a child. The play has been on hold due to COVID-19.

Almasi Arts is a Zimbabwean American Dramatic Arts Collaborative Organisation that has Danai Gurira, an award-winning playwright and actress and the first African female to have a play on Broadway, as its Executive Artistic Director and Co-Founder.

 

NGWENYA BOOK LAUNCH IN DECEMBER

 


Tsitsi Nomsa Ngwenya

 

For More Updates, visit:

tsitsinomsangwenya.com

 

 CONGRATULATIONS EMMANUEL MHIKE


THE NEW MANAGER FOR

“MAI PATAI AND VOICE OF PROPHECY”


 Mai Patai and her new manager Emmanuel Hove Mhike

  

"Popularly known as 'The Prince of Mazvihwa' Emmanuel Hove Mhike is a young but experienced Arts and Culture Practioner whose work revolves around Arts Consultancy, Social entrepreneurship, Writing and supporting grassroots Arts and Culture initiatives at the margins. He is also responsible for coordinating marginalized community/ ghetto based Artists and festivals.  Emmanuel is a well-travelled Arts practioner who has attended a number of international Arts and Culture indabas, workshops and festivals around the World. Emmanuel is also a filmmaker whose creative documentaries are available on Muonde Trust YouTube account. He is an International Writer whose works are featured in international journals like Munyori Literary Journal, California Poetry Now, Sacramento and in 2018 among 53 Writers he was the only African featured in Tule Review, an American publication. Working at Muonde Trust as a proponent of Endogenous Development (Community led or Development from within communities) Emmanuel to date attended and presented at three key International Resilience workshops and festivals (Ghana 2016, Kenya 2018, Canada 2019). His fantastic creative works can also be found on his award winning blog: https://manumhike.home.blog/. Academically, Mhike is a holder of a First Class B.Sc. Honors Degree in Music and Musicology and an MA in Development studies all degrees attained at the reputable Midlands State University, Zimbabwe. No doubt his creativity, passion, cross cultural experience, local and international links/networks, technological know-how and music field academic brilliance will professionally take the Mai Patai and VOP brand to phenomenal standards and international levels!

 

Image: pindula.co.zw

Mai Patai, real name Respina Patai, is a gospel female musician who rose to fame in 2002 after the release of the hit song Mazambara. She is a multi- award winning musician whose most recent award includes a NAMA people's choice Award in 2019. To date she has released three albums which are Makanaka (2002), Samulena (2010) and Punish the Devil (2018). She is married to Ephraim Patai. She leads the 12-member band The Voice Of Prophecy."

 

THE YOUTH PERSPECTIVE

With

 
Mimi Machakaire


 I am Not My Hair

 For many years I have seen and heard so much discrimination against natural hair of black women and youth in Africa and yonder. Most women and youths are cornered into applying very specific hairstyles that are considered “neat” or “acceptable” in formal settings such as school (primary, high school or tertiary) or work place environments but what is the true danger here?  

Many women and youths whom I’ve spoken to have complained that they do not like being told how one should keep their hair yet other ethnicities do not have such choices. Thus, how does my hair affect my ability to learn or work in any environment?

No wonder the statement, “I am not my hair” can be found in a lot of social media pages, musical lyrics and nearly hundreds of platforms on the internet. 

The Statement “I am not my hair” initially became popular from a song by American soul and R&B singer–songwriter India Arie featuring another singer called Akon. The song appeared from her third studio album, Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship (2006).  

The song attacked the way our society ideally views beauty. Although the piece was originally written for women who had lost their hair due to cancer it also sends a very clear message that is applicable to everyone. In our society today, women and youth have to work more than most to attain society’s idealistic view of beauty. Each race has its own respective issues. Either the hair isn’t curly enough, too straight, or it’s too nappy or natural. In some cases, the hair on your head may not even be yours. 

For whatever reason, black women and youth have connected with this statement in a heart-warming way which does not mean they are rejecting their hair but rather accepting that their hair and their person is not one in the same thing. One can identify themselves as something that has nothing to do with their hair, while their hair can also be a reflection of their personality but the choice is theirs as an individual to decide how their hair plays a role in their lives. In other words, I am not my hair. 

Another question arises: why is African hair considered untidy if the hair is not flat or shaved for boys or put in braids and weaves for girls? 

My hair grows naturally the way it wants to and if one is bothered by the way my hair grows on my head then they shouldn’t be looking at it, is my opinion, as a member of the youth. 

In recent times, Clicks South Africa for example, had an advert that came out which described African Hair as Dry and Damaged, while other hair was considered Fine and Normal. 

Latest research from Statistics South Africa reveals that the country has a population that is more than 80% Black. 

Given this majority Black citizenship, the advert that positioned white people’s hair as the norm elicited widespread outcry. 

The hash tags #ClicksMustFall and #clicksadvert trended for days on social media.

Protests ensued all around South Africa to either close down Clicks stores or some were simply burnt down instead. 

So, what message does this send to women and youth?  That their hair is not deemed as normal in today’s society but how does hair affect one’s ability to live as a functional human being? I repeat, I AM NOT MY HAIR! 

Some hair remains almost rebellious in most traditions, such as dreadlocks. There is a stereotype among this culture where dreadlocks are seen as Rastafarian, or associated with drugs or even in some cases, crime. However, one can have dreadlocks and not be a Rastafarian at all. What does it mean to be Rastafarian? 

Rastafari also known as Rastafarianism and the Rastafari movement is an Abrahamic religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and social movement by scholars of religion. 

While it has been adapted in so many ways word wide, their belief was that dreadlocks are not just for style. They believed that one should not cut their hair because that is where strength lies and dreadlocks form naturally over time.  Yet so many of us see dreadlocks among other forms of natural hair as a sign of weakness, why? I repeat, I AM NOT MY HAIR!

I am an example also. I have natural hair known as dreadlocks, though, I don’t fit the stereotype that comes with many ignorant people out there in the world. I can still produce work that is considered favourable in most organizations. 

I can still live and function as a normal female human being. Then in today’s society there lies rules in some school environments that force youth to cut their hair when  it is considered to be in its most natural state. However, what difference does it make, before and after all the hair is gone, are they still not the same student they were before?  I AM NOT MY HAIR!

Another story made headlines this year  on a similar topic of hair. In Kingston, Jamaica, it was well-known that  Jamaica's high court ruled that a school was within its rights to demand that a girl cut her dreadlocks to attend classes. This was a surprise decision that touched on issues of identity and one the most recognizable symbols of the island's Rastafarian culture.

The ruling by the Supreme Court of Jamaica capped a two-year battle after the girl, who was then 5 years old and she was told she must cut her dreadlocks for "hygiene" reasons to study at Kensington Primary School in a Kingston suburb.

Others viewed the court ruling  as discrimination against people who wear "natural" hair, including Rastafarians whose dreadlocks are part of their religious tradition.

The girl and her parents, Dale and Sherine Virgo, who both wear dreadlocks, had planned to appeal at the time according to their lawyer, Isat Buchanan.

However, the story ended with Virgo’s daughter who is now 7 years old and identified in court papers only as Z because she is a minor, was seen attending classes at the school. This was after the courts delivered an injunction against the Ministry of Education, allowing her to go to school with her dreadlocks intact.

The judgment was delivered in a small courtroom populated mainly by lawyers and the girl’s parents.

Lastly, when the school closed early this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, the girl was home-schooled.

In conclusion, let me say that  it doesn’t matter how one styles their hair as long it doesn’t prevent them from their normal day to day activities. 

In this day and age, especially now in Covid-19 times, we are living in so much uncertainty that hair shouldn’t be an issue at all, yet it is still viewed as a problem in most communities in Africa and across the world. 

 We shouldn’t be focused on how one keeps their hair but on how they are actually contributing towards making the world a better place. Are we decent human beings attempting to at least make our  communities better or we are making our  communities worse? 

If you are still bothered by one’s hair, then maybe the problem lies within you and not the person who has an afro because they feel like it or dreadlocks because it is more convenient to them or for whatever reason they may keep. 

Hair is not the problem in this world but rather, Hunger, War, Poverty, Racism, Gender Based Violence, Diseases such as the world pandemic known as Covid-19 and many more.

  

OPPORTUNITY FOR YOUNG WRITERS

 



CHILDREN’S LITERATURE IN ZIMBABWE

With

 

Aleck Kaposa

 

One Of These Days The Rain Will Come

 For many, many days the late October sun burnt from the azure blue sky like the fire of hell. Every day, everyone at Kenzi Farm wished the rain would come.

“The rain will definitely come in a day or two,” Old Matope, a retired farm labourer and neighbour of ours who was rumoured to have the power to make or stop the rain, would say to Mother and Father, pointing  to the sky every day when we came back from the fields. He sounded so sure that it would rain the next day in the same way he was sure that the sun would rise on the following morning.

“It won’t be long I tell you, before the rains come pouring down.”

 For several days in a row, late in the afternoon, the sky would turn grey with dark clouds that looked pregnant with rain. The hot days seemed to have come to an end at last.

On one of the many cloudy afternoons, a fierce, dust-laden, cold wind from the north started blowing so strongly as if it was trying to suck rain from a hideout somewhere in the sky. A zigzag streak of blinding lightning tore apart the darkened sky followed by thunder which rumbled like a heavy-loaded gonyeti lorry belching on an uphill drive. Pius, Nono and I hurriedly left the wire-cars we were making near our chicken run and scampered into the house. There was another angry bolt of lightning and more peals of thunder. Soon a pit-a-pit of faint raindrops which mother called amathe empukani in her Ndebele language started falling on the corrugated iron roof of our house, giving us so much hope for a downpour that night.

A few hours later, as the sun went down, the wind had weakened but it swept away the light showers. Mother went outside the house and we followed her. Cupping her hands on her forehead, she glanced intently into the distance towards Mudzururu forest and shook her head.   

“Another disappointment, no rain tonight. Perhaps there will be another drought,” Mother whispered, shaking her head dolefully.

“One of these days the rain will come MaSibanda,” Father said with a voice full of hope.

“GOD will definitely give us enough rains this season and we will have a bumper harvest, sell our produce and make a lot of money.”

We all believed Father and went back into the house with so much hope for tomorrow.  

       

 IN ZIMBABWE, LITERATURE IS PROTEST

By

Beaven Tapureta

 

In November 2017, when a military coup removed Robert Mugabe as Zimbabwe’s head of state after 37 years of rule, euphoria gripped the whole country. Many saw it as an end to “the house of hunger”—the title of a widely read 1978 novel by Dambudzo Marechera that described the people’s suffering under tyranny.

Poet Philani A. Nyoni captured the excitement vividly in a stanza of a poem he composed on the day Mugabe stepped down:

 

Twenty-one-gun salute to the November sun!
I washed my face and wiped it with the flag.
Not for lack of a more appropriate rag,
But in salute of the spirit of the time …

 

Read complete article on Zocalo Public Square

 

 VOICES FROM THE MOUNTAINS

With

Clever Simbarashe Kavenga

 

24 YEAR OLD DEAN MURINDA belongs to the young generation of published writers based in the city of Mutare. He is also a master of ceremonies, spoken word poet, voice over artist, and has graced the Mutare National Gallery Shaura Poetry and Music Session on many occasions.  Murinda has published three poetry anthologies in English, one of them Blooming Lilies, was nominated for NAMA Awards. The Genesis Melodies Of A Little Rising Voice is his first anthology and the most recent is titled Wings That No longer Fly. Murinda is a young man on a mission in the arts fields. Below is the interview I had with him.

Dean Murinda

 

Kavenga S: When did your writing journey start?

 Dean:             My early days of writing can be traced back to 2007 when I was still 11 and I attempted to write a novel but serious and consistent writing I think I started in 2015.

 Kavenga S: You are prolific marketer, and your books are available on print-on-demand basis. Tell us how do you make someone in Bulawayo for example know about your books that are not readily available but printed on request?

 Dean: Well like I said I'm a spoken word artist, I intend to invest more in spoken word videos now which I will upload on several online platforms. A good following will allow people to further look into me and in doing so my books will be realized.

 Kavenga S: Tell us briefly about Wings That No Longer Fly, its title is so captivating.

 Dean: In Wings That No Longer Fly I wanted to mix despair and hope, so I thought of a bird with broken wings, in as much as it can't fly it still tries to. I thought this imagery would show despair and hope at the same time and so I pursued it through poetry.

  Kavenga S: What's your view on arts, writing in particular, in Zimbabwe?

 Dean: You really need to be exceptional to make it out there and to make money you need to be always on the desk looking for opportunities. All I mean is you need a special plan.

 Kavenga S: Taking you a little back what really inspired you into writing poetry?

 Dean: At first it was personal experiences. What I went through in life makes up my first two anthologies. I would say poetry chose me. I really wanted to be a novel writer at first but poetry meant more to me although I intend to venture into other genres. They say a poet over 30 years is simply an overgrown child.

 Kavenga S: Is there any training you did to enhance your writing skills?

 Dean:  No except one or two writing workshops, otherwise it has been research on my own.

 Kavenga S: Looking back, do you regret for the time you spent in the arts field?

 Dean: Not at all. It gave me hope outside the academic world; it’s only through art that I imagine myself beyond any other dream.

  Kavenga S: Who is your favourite Zimbabwean writer could be from the old generation and the current generation?

 Dean: Chenjerai Hove is my hero. I love his irony. How he used simple words but managed to come up with the greatest pieces. My favourite piece from him is Child's Parliament.

 Kavenga S: Can you share with us your most joyous time in this field of arts and that dark moment in your writing life that almost extinguished the writing flame burning in your heart.

 Dean: I think my first book launch was the climax of all; it was something I had always dreamt of. And in terms of darkest moments, I think I was so near to giving up when I fell sick before an audition.

 Kavenga S: Mutare is referred to as a tourist destination because of its beautiful sceneries. Does this city inspire you in your writing?

 Dean: Hahaha in my new art yes I'm going to be using the nature world in Mutare that much. I want my fans to know I have something called 911 coming up and it will have nature alongside.

 

MUBIRIRA’S AMAZING LOVE POETRY

By 

Edwin Msipa

 

 She may not be a big name now. She may not have won any of the arts merit awards so far. She may be presently unknown in the literary arts field but her work is by far convincing and looks poised for higher levels.

Her name is Rumbidzai Olivia Mubirira, a young, humble, quiet and assertive woman. Mubirira is slowly rising and she has found the groove already: LOVE POETRY!

She has traces of being a follower of one of the forebears of Zimbabwe's Shona spoken word poetry, Miss T. Mutongwizo who published great love poems. And Mubirira is churning out serious love pieces which will surely inject therapeutic 'venom' in those who are willing to make-up or break-up in their love relationships.

Rue, as Rumbidzai is affectionately known, has quite intriguing pieces. In 'Ndimuudze Here?', (Mafuro Manyoro, 2017), the persona  is rooted in fantasy land,  dreaming of a man  and wondering  whether she should tell him the three little words, 'I love you!' or to remain quiet when she see him again:

 

Kuti ndimuudze simba rinopera

Mabvi oroverana nekudedera

Hana tigu tigu!

 

The persona professes her fear of telling the man that she loves him. Even in our African culture, a girl or grown woman may like a man but it is difficult for her to say it out.

It is unacceptable. The only way it was allowed was through a marriage process called kuganha in which a young woman would defy the odds, choose her lover and throw herself on him by going to the lover’s compound. She would sit close by the kitchen and wait for the people inside to see and ask her why she came.

In the last stanza of the poem, the persona asks:

 

Ndodii nhai?

Ndomuudza here?

 

She is clearly at crossroads. Can she put aside our African way of doing things just because of her personal desires? In real life, we face the same challenges and fail to make proper decisions. This happens often in religion, marriages, work and social settings.

Just like in Mutongwizo's poem, 'Chido Chitaurirwa', (Mabvumira eNhetembo, Mambo Press, 1969), a lover may feel the arrow piercing in the heart but circumstances may make it difficult for them to tune in on one station. In Mutongwizo's wonderful piece, the girl is a young sister to the man's wife, a muramu. Men, most of the times, live with their wives' young sisters and they usually take advantage of these girls and impregnate them. Is this acceptable?

Furthermore, in one of the most exciting poems of love to ever come from our earlier great poets, titled 'Kana Wamutanga Musikana' written by Mordecai A. Hamutyinei, one can see that the poet agrees that it is not normal for a woman to ask a man out. She may seduce him but to throw or let go the arrow is an unacceptable behaviour for her.

In her other piece 'Roja Murudo', a lover cries foul because he or she is not getting satisfied by the relationship. Is it because of work commitments?

 

Irwo rudo rwunoda jee here?

Fambe dzoke serwaivhi kwete,

Rwunoda ndichikupavhurira

Iwe uchindipavhirorawo.

Harwudi ndichikupa negapu,

Iwe uchindinyesvurira nekamugwaku….

Heya zvichigere!

Unoti unoda kuteya mariva ehupenyu hwako,

Heya, ndini chipingaidzo chako?

Ndava kukuvhiringa nhai?

 

Mubirira echoes the same vibes in the poem, 'Muzvinapembe' which is about a man who is always judging his woman. ‘Muzvinapembe’ literally means a ‘referee’.

Through her poetry, Mubirira brings out the hidden realities of our love life. A lot is happening under the roofs covering our houses but no one sees it until poets like Mubirira expose these things we take for granted but which ruin relationships.

Being a young woman writer, Rue believes women have a role to play in marriages and in everyday life. She bemoans the lack of financial support in the arts industry as a major drawback for many writers in Zimbabwe. Rue shares some of her poems on the Writers International Network Zimbabwe (WINZIM) and Essential Publishing WhatsApp groups.

Truly, the sky is the limit for Rue and her peers.

  

 BRIEF LOOK AT WATSIKA RUFUSE

By Chenjerai Mhondera

  


The moment you hold this book by Tawanda Chigavazira, you are met with a vivid cover picture of a young man in torn and rugged clothes, a loose black tie round his neck, sitting and trying to nurse his swollen or blistering feet!

And by holding this book, you have stepped on red, hot coal or charcoal hidden or buried in the pages. Sometimes it doesn't seem to make sense when you see a formally dressed someone, out in the bush and seeming up to herd cattle.

But for Gangauswa (Gange), it's a different story anyway!

Watsika Rufuse is a story chronicling how a villager, Gange of several mischiefs, rose from being naughty to being ‘notorious’.

Such a narration and its setting which involve places such as Mhondoro and the urban Norton walks the reader through phases of life imbedded in crime and law.  What does it mean when a murderer and armed robber like Gange escapes from getting sentenced through certain technicalities?

But as this and that happens in Watsika Rufuse, as the law seem to favour an offender, does it sit well with Karinge, whose brother Chatambudza, a breadwinner gets murdered  and dies a painfully, bathing in own blood? Shall Chatambudza's family members simply bury the deceased and fold hands - perhaps write, 'rest in peace' in anticipation of hype round eternity? But how can this be, for someone who dies under such mysterious circumstances?

Tawanda Chigavazira is not new  when it comes to Shona traditions. He doesn't pay a blind eye to the culture of Africans. For instance, in his book he examines the rituals, that is, the mixing of traditional medicine (muti) and water, and the powerful recitations by the most senior of Karinge's family members to awaken the spirit of the departed to avenge his offenders and expose them. Such is the compensatory behaviour by our Shona or African customs and traditions when professionalism seems to fail and justice delayed. The book is just but what Shona readers will enjoy since it is richly expressed. In it, figurative language is expertly used. Tawanda’s diction is a marvel throughout the book.

 

 NGATINYOREI

Na


Tinashe Muchuri

 

Chikamu chino chauya COVID ichiita kunge yave kuderera ukasha hwayo munyika asi yava kunyanya kuwanikwa pakati pevanhu vari vagary vemunyika yeZimbabwe. Izvi zvinoreva kuti zvave kuda kuti vanhu vangwarire pakuzvichengetedza kuti vasatatapurirane ugwere ugwu. Vanyori zvakanakawo kutsvakurudza zvakawanda pamusoro peugwere vutsva ubwu. Izvi zvinoita kuti zvinyogwa zvedu zvive nevudzamu uye chenjedzo yakakwana kuvaravi vazvo izvo zvinoita kuti kugarisana munyika kuve kwakarungama.

Mukudero chikamu chino chichasimbirira nyaya yekuti sei iko kunyora neShona kwakanaka vuye kuchikurudzirwa kune vanokugona uye zvingava zvipi zvibingaidzo pakunyora nyaya, nduri, ngano, nganonyorwa nezvimwe zvinyiorwa zvingada kusvitswa kuvaravi. Ichi chauya apo vazhinji vanogarondivhunza kuti iwe unombonyorerei neShona mutauro wevashoma. Zvino mhinduro yangu inouya ichiti vakatanga kunyora vakaona zvakakodzera kuti munyori ashandise mutauro uyo anonyanyisa kunzwisisa zvine udzamu nokuti izvozvo zvinoita kuti anyore zvine udzamu uye zvine shwiro. Zvino mutauro weShona ndiwovo wandonzwisisa.

Pamusoro peizvi, hakusi kuti kana uchigona kutaura mutauro uyu kana kunge wakazvarwa uchitaura mutauro uyu wobva wati unouziva. Kuziva mutauro kunopinda kungotaura mutauro basi asi kunopinda mukuziva mitemo inotevedzerwa pakunyora nomutauro uyu. Vamwe vanogona kuti iri rekuziva pokuisa chikuwo, muvhunzo, chiturabefu nezvimwe zvose zvinoitwa nomupepepti, asika kupavo mupepeti basa rakawandisa zvakapindiridza. Zvakanaka chose kuti munyori akwenenzvere basa rake kuitira kuti mupepeti aiitewo basa rake risingamurwadzi. Zvino kana munyori akangokusha mbeu mukati mebundo, angatarisira kukohwa zvakadii idzo mbeu dzichivhungwa namapundo? Hapana. Zvinodavo’ka kuti iye murimi atange atsindikira munda wake uye ozoshandukura apo asati aisa mbesa kuitira kuti vanouya kuzosakurira zvirimwa zvivaitire nyore kufambisa ndima. Kunyange izvo zvikomo zvisingapindi geja, kunotanga kwabvukutirwa kuitira kuti zvirukweza nemapfunde kana mhunga zvinozowana ndimo. Ndizvo zvimwewo nekunyora nomutauro weShona, zvinoda kuti munyori ange achiziva zvinodarika kungogona zviperengo bedzi.

Tichibva ipapa pamitemo yekunyora mutauro zvinodawo zvakare kuziva mashandisire ezvirungamutauro. Kazhinji unoona kuti vanyori vanopiringisha tsumo namadimikira nenzira yokuti vanongoda havo kuti vanzi vakashandisa tumor namadimikira uye kuti vagonzi vanonyora mutauro wavanoziva zvamandorokwati, izvo hapana chinozivikanwa. Kana usingazivi hako zvinoreva tumor kana dimikira unorimanikidzirei kuti rireve zvarisingarevi? Wadii hako kunyora chinyorwa chako usingaisi tsumo kana madimikira asi wakaronga hako mutauro wako zvine udzamu zvichitapira? Ndinodaro nokuti hazvishandi izvi kuti upiringishe chinyorwa chako netsumo namadimikira zvisingarevi chinhu munyaya yako.

Panduri unovova vamwe vanyori vachida kushandisa chidobi chemahwi anomutinhimira unoenderana zvichida pakutanga mutsara, kwekupera kwemutsara kana pakati pemitsara, asi zvoonekwa kuti chivavarirwa chomunyori kuda kuva nemutinhimira asi chabudamo pasina kana chimwe chinoonekeravo. Ipapa ndipo paya paunenge waita iya inonzi chawagona hapana jere reBindura kana Chabuda hapana rumbo rwaBob Nyabinde.

Imwe nyaya iri pamazita ezvinhu. Hazvibetseri hazvo kuti kana uchinyora nyaya yekuNyanga ushandise mazita ezvinhu zvekuMasvingo kunotaurwa Karanga iyo nyaya ichiitikira kunotaurwa Manyika. Zvakanaka kuti tione kuti nyaya iri kunyorwa iyi iri kuitikira kupi, izvi zvinobva nemutsika dzavanhu uye mazita ezvinhu zvakaita senharaunda, michero, zvirimwa, nemidziyo yekushandisa. Kuunza mazita aya mumutauro kunoita kuti mutauro weShona upfume uye vadzidzi vemutauro vagone kugarisana nekudyidzana zvakanaka navamwe pasina mheremhere.

Tichibva panyaya yemazita iyoyi tinopinda munyaya yemwaka. Zvakaoma hazvo ipapa nokuti mumwe nomumwe mwaka unotarwa nemichero inowanikwa mumwaka uyu. Zvinorema zvikuru kuti tiwane harurwa semuenzaniso mumwaka wezhizha. Kana wanyora nezvekudyiwa kwadzo mumwaka wezhizha, kana mazhanje mumwaka wechirimo zvava kutoda kuzivikanwa kuti akachengetedzwa sei kuti awanikwe mumwaka uyu. Ukanyora nezvemukumbi mumwaka wechirimo, muravi anenge ofanira kuziviswa nzira yakaita kuti mapfura achengetedzwe kana kuti iwo mukumbi wacho unge wakachengetedzwa zvekuzosvika pakumwiwa mumwaka wechirimo uyu. Zvakakosha chose kuti munyori ave neruzivo rwemwaka uye michero kana kumwe kudya nokunwa kunowanikwa mumwaka mumwe nomumwe. Izvi zvakasaitwa zvakanaka zvinosakisa muravi kusaziva udzamu hwemutauro uye chokwadi chehupenyu.

Panouya nyaya yemitambo uyo inowanikwa kumatunhu akasiyana-siyana enyika ino yeZimbabwe. Zvinorema kuhwa kuti Katekwe kaitambwa kudunhu reZaka. Kana izvi zvaitika totoziva kuti kune vanhu vakatamba vakainda kune iri dunhu naizvozvo ngazvive zvakajeka kuti uyu mutambo wakaunzwa munzvimbo nevakauya uye uchirevei.

Kune tsika dzekuroorerana nadzo. Zvakakosha kuziva tsika idzi kuitira kuti munyori asapiringisha nyaya idzi. Ndinogarosangana nenyaya inonetsa inotaura nenyaya yekutiza mukumbo nekutiziswa, uye kutizira. Izvi zvinonetsa pakuti anotizira mukumbo ndiye uya anenge ave nemimba naizvozvo atyorwa gumbo nekudaro otiza mukumbo nekuti pamba pavabereki hapachagarika. Anotizira anogonavo zvakare kuve napamuviri kana kunge iye asvibirwa zvakanyanya kwave kutya kundotongeswa navabereki obva aenda kumukomana ari ega. Kutiziswa uku kazhinji kunzvengeswa kunoitwa musikana apo anenge asina pamuviri uye pane imwe nguva ave nepamuviri asi pane kutenderana kwevaroorani. Nzira mbiri idzi ndidzo dzaikonzera kutandaniswa kwaanasadombo/munyai/samukuru/samutume apo anenge aenda kundozivisa kuti mwana aishaikwa aivepi. Hazvaikodzera kugara nemwana wevanhu kwenguva refu mwana wevanhu pasina kuzivisa hama dzake kuti iye aivepi.

Izvi ndizvo zvimwe zvinotambudza vanyori izvo zvandati tibetserane pamusoro pazvo. Muchikamu chinotevera tichapfuurira mberi tichitaura nezvezvimwe zvingadikanwa kuzivikanwa nemunyori kunyanya vaya vari kuda kutanga kunyora nyaya, nduri, ngano nenganonyorwa. Zvishoma nezvishoma tiri kugadzirira kuti tiwane kusvika pakukwenenzvera basa redu kuti apo tinoripa kumupepeti tinenge tamureretsira basa uye zvinozobudawo zvakatinakira nekunakira varavi vedu.

Akupa dhamba ndewako kurega kusunga uchirimisa hwatovawo utera hwanyakupiwa. Panhasi togumisira pano asi tisakanganwa kuzvichengetedza pakutapurira kana kutapurirwa utachiona hwerudzibhwamupengo rutsva rweCOVID-19. Utano ndiwo mufaro, ngatichengetei mufaro wedu.


IN SEARCH OF INNOCENCE, JUSTICE, AND INDEPENDENCE IN FIVE NIGHTS BEFORE THE SUMMIT

By Beaven Tapureta



Zambian author Mukuka Chipanta’s second novel Five Nights Before The Summit (Weaver Press, 2019) substantiates his storytelling prowess which readers discovered in his previous work. The novel engages with what one might call its soul-touching hunt for the true meaning of innocence, justice and independence amidst an avalanche of surprises.

In this novel, African crime fiction is rendered at its best. Mukuka has managed to weave a universal story that mesmerizes with such intricate build-up of events and emotions.

Mukuka, an aerospace engineer by profession, lives in the USA with his family. His first novel A Casualty of Power (Weaver Press, 2016) won him the Best Book and Gold for General College Level Book at the 2017 Classic American Literary Awards in South Dakota, USA, and longlisted for the 9Mobile (formerly Etisalat) award for African Literature in 2018. The novel depicts the impact of China’s presence in Africa.

With Five Nights Before The Summit, he has made a comeback but with another thriller. The story happens in 1979 but it is rich with backstories that drift back and forth into the past. The murder of Henry and Laura Hinckley a week before the much anticipated Queen Elizabeth’s visit to the newly independent Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) not only triggers a spurt of emotions of different degrees but also excavates secrets that even today’s Africa is still grappling to ‘un-puzzle’.

As the story unfolds, one asks: what is innocence or justice or independence in a place where political power interferes with the pursuit of positive values? In Five Nights Before The Summit, layers of what we think is innocence, justice or independence are peeled off to reveal the dark web of motives, deceit and guilt of some of the characters to whom society looks up to. Their secret selves are laid out in the open.

With this ‘important’ murder in the limelight, the Queen’s visit to officially open the 5th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting spells a test with a close deadline for Northern Rhodesia’s newly gained independence. And it is the police upon whom the task falls to save the country from embarrassment.

Mukuka presents a police force that is committed to pursuing criminal matters until they are resolved.  Detective Maxwell Chanda, the leader of the investigation team, handles his job with passion despite having to also cope with his family life. It is interesting how this commitment to justice is pitted against an overwhelming political force straddling between N Rhodesia and England. The suspicious authority of England over N Rhodesia regarding the murder case is clearly articulated through characters like Peter James from the British High Commissioner’s office.

Peter’s words, when he meets with Chief of police and Max, rings of power.

“I have come here charged with the explicit instruction to ensure that all the culprits are apprehended and brought to justice immediately. This issue cannot loom over Her Majesty’s trip, we simply can’t have it overshadowing the royal visit. The British public will simply not tolerate it!” he tells them.               

Peter James’ counterpart, Secretary David Owen from the British Foreign Office in London, is too worried as he is not satisfied with the progress so far made three days before the Queen’s visit. He snaps at his young administrator: “…No, I need you to call our mission in Zambia directly. We need to get a hold of somebody high up in the Zambian government to sort this out… we need them to put every resource they have into catching these bloody murderous thugs and put a stop to these headlines. I want you to go as high as Kaunda himself if you much!...”

All these British maneuvers leave the reader coming close to concluding that although Zambia in the novel has gained independence, it is still a British colony in the guise of an African flag, somehow a dependent! Due to the unexpected death of the Hinckleys, it seems attention suddenly swerves towards the preservation of elitist, political prestige.

The diary form in which the story is told shows how important time is for the characters; time as a scant resource pushes the momentum up, thus Five Nights Before The Summit does not waste a reader’s time with too much commentary. The emphasis is on the chase, the action and as ‘action speaks louder than words’, the author gracefully unveils an inner view of each character’s psyche; something like a pure, un-judged inscape of their motives and secret fears are uncovered.

But why doesn’t the British solve their own matters without involving the Africans, for it is their own kind – Frits Hubercht and Peter James – who behind the scenes have orchestrated the crime despite it turning out to be what they hadn’t planned? Does it show the vulnerability of the African?

Amos, rich and educated, is the most wanted criminal but still at first, had it not been for Peter James who came with an opportunistic offer to him, he had denied Paul’s invitation to lead the pack that would break into the Hinckleys’ house. Paul, poor and uneducated, surely is aware of the consequences of getting involved in another crime soon after coming from prison but Frits, who strikes a chance friendship with him, baits him with promise of large sums of money and therefore takes advantage of his poverty.

Frits, a close friend of the Hinckleys and a Boer who is in terrible debt yet can’t stand the status of “being a poor white man in a black man’s country” and Peter James who should protect the dignity of his country, are both hounding Henry, a farmer but secretly a ‘wanted’  ex-British intelligence officer and an illegal minerals dealer. They are hounding him for different reasons. Henry, now confined to the wheelchair, is defenseless to his ‘next of kin’ designing his fall. To confront Henry, Africans are secretly used – Amos, Paul, Musa and Mambwe.

The novel gets emotional in paragraphs that descriptively capture places like Kabulonga suburb where the rich families of black upper-class citizens live in contrast with the township conditions of most black workers. When Paul first visits Amos’ residence to ask him to lead the break-in at the Hinckleys, the narrator tells us, “In Paul’s eyes, the size of the guest house could have been many times the size of the biggest home in the township.”

When at some point later detectives visit the township where Paul lived, the narrator tells us it “was a settlement of ramshackle dwellings that covered the landscape like mushrooms budding over a hillside”. 

Mukuka clearly displays a certain disillusionment that also settled in the hearts of several African authors who realized that the hard won independence of their mother countries was benefiting only a few individuals in positions of power. In the same spirit, Mukuka subtly portrays this inequality through the lives of his characters.

 Five Nights Before The Summit is written in a language that is fast-paced and lucid. Culture is captured when African characters speak in their indigenous language and act in accordance with tradition.

The seemingly innocence of the Hinckleys is felt when the farm foreman, during interrogation, describes their cool relationship with their farm workers. Beneath their innocence lay terrific fear especially in Laura who had spoken out against colonialism, thus became a disgrace to the British rule in the colonies.

Laura Hinckley’s reasoning and sympathy for Africans makes her ‘the Doris Lessing’ in the story. Lessing, born in 1919 in Tehran but grew up in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), was a prolific white author whose support for Africans irked Britain. She was in 1956 “declared a prohibited migrant after speaking out about the white minority regime.”

Laura’s enthusiasm and love for equality echoes in her words in the eighteenth and nineteenth chapters of Five Nights Before The Summit and the reaction she gets is that of astonishment. Twenty one years earlier in England she tells Henry: “My point is that we need to let the Africans live their own lives and make their own choices. This whole business of colonialism has only brought misery and oppression….”

Three months before she and her husband are murdered, and few years after N Rhodesia’s attainment of independence, she challenges Frits: “I mean doesn’t it bother you sometimes that here we are, white in a black man’s land, living better than the black man himself?”

    As a novel written in diary form and with many entries, it would have added an advantage for the reader had there been a contents page. Hardly do works of fiction carry a table of contents but with this unusual story, it would have been smoothening oil with such a table because often surprises loom up which make the reader want to go back to previous scenes quickly to get a better view before moving forward with the gripping tale.

Despite this small weakness, the novel Five Nights Before The Summit is a murder mystery, suspenseful and engaging, which confirms Mukuka Chipanta’s determined authorship that will echo across Africa and beyond.  The novel will remind many readers that crime and conspiracy are still a threat to Africa’s total democracy.

 

 MABHUKU EDU, OUR BOOKS

Na

Prosper Njeke

 Makadini vanyori nevaverengi. Ndakuunzirai imwe hurukuro yandakaita nanyanduri wechidiki ari kurura mazuvano nenduri dzinotapira, idzo dzatekeshera padandemutande. Anonzi Nyanduri Chamapezi zita rokuzvarwa riri Munashe Dhliwayo wekuMarondera akabarwa musi wa24 Chivabvu 1997. Heyo tandarai nayo!

                           

Munashe Dhliwayo

Nyanduri Chamapezi, ndinokutambira muchirongwa chino chevanyori vechidiki, Mabhuku Edu / Our Books.

 Ndinotenda mukoma Njeke nekundikokawo pano.

 Zvakanaka nyanduri. Tiudzewo kuti uve nyanduri wemandiriri kudai nezera rako iri, zvakanyatsotanga sei kuzoti uve nyanduri?

Mukoma, ndakatangira ndiri kuchikoro paRakodzi High School. Ndaidaidzwa paasemburi nemudzidzisi ndichinzi ndimboita detembo. Ini ndaisatya, ndaibva ndavaratidza kudavadika kwangu. Ndakazosara ndopedza zvidzidzo zveA’ Level, ndichingonzi “ nyanduri nyanduri”, nazvino ndiri kunyandura.

Zvinofadza izvi. Ko, zvimwe zvinyorwa zvako zvinowanikwa pai, pekuti tingazviverengewo?

Zvinyorwa zvangu zvinowanikwa paMunyori Journal raOctober 2020, rakatsikiswa pandandemutande neChisiya Writers’ Workshop rinowanikwa pa http://munyori.org/2020/10/poetry-by-chisiya-writers-workshop-members/. Mukaenda paYouTube munoona mavhidhiyo enhetembo dzangu, pa https://youtu.be/bfIZYH1Uxvo .Dzimwe dzacho dziri mumabhuku emiunganidzwa yenhetembo ayo asati zvawo abuda asi ave pedyo anoti; DZINE MAUNGIRA, MWENJE, MAUNGIRA EZIMBABWE, NDURI UPENYU, DZINOBVA MUROPA, MUNHURUKA WENHAPITAPI, kozoita imwe nyaya yangu iri mumuunganidzwa wenyaya pfupi dzevanyori vechidiki vemuZimbabwe unonzi HAUSUNDI uyo uchiri kubikwa zvekare.

 U-u, uri kufamba munyori! Ko, ndeapi matambudziko ari kusanganikwa nawo nevanyori vechidiki?

Matambudziko aripo mukoma Njeke. Chekutanga, vanyori vadiki havasi kupiwa mukana wekuti zvinyorwa zvavo zviverengwewo muzvikoro. Kunongoverengwa evanyori vakatanga kare. Piri, maEditors kana kuti vapepeti vari kupiwa basa nevanyori vadiki, havasi kudzosa kuti vaone pakagadziriswa. Editor anotora makore matatu kana kurautsira asati adzosa.

 Ya, zvinorwadza izvi. Saka ndezvipi zvaungati zvingaitwa mukuedza kusimudzira vanyori vadiki ava.

         Vanyori vadiki vanofanira kuti kana vakatsikisawo mabhuku avo agoverengwa                pamakungano makuru kuti vazivikanwewo. Zvekare, vanofanira kushandidzanawo nevanyori vakatanga kare mungava mumibatanidzwa yenhetembo kana nyaya pfupi. Ivo vanyori vakuru vanofanirawo kuti vakaona munyori mudiki anouya kwavari achida kubatsirwa vomugamuchirawo vachimupawo mazano kuti angasimukira sei.

Wataura mashoko makuru apa. Ko, iwe unosimudzirwa kana kuti kukurudzirwa nani kuti urambe uine  simba rakadai pakudetemba nemamwe mabasa ako ekunyora.

Ndinokurudzirwa naKelvin Muzira, Ruramai Kuhudzai, newe Njeke pamwe chete nevateereri venhetembo dzangu.

 Zvakanaka izvi. Ko, kunze kwekuvanyanduri ndezvipi  zvimwe zvaunoita muupenyu?

Mazvita mukoma. Ndinoshanda semutariri ndichishandira mudhorobha reMarondera ndichishandira kambani yeGuard Alert.

 Ndatenda hangu nyanduri nenguva yatava tose. Mupfuurire mberi nebasa renyu.

 

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The WIN Literary Newsletter is edited by the WIN Editorial Team and published on the blog monthly or bi-monthly by Writers International Network Zimbabwe (WIN). For more information, contact us: winzimbabwe@gmail.com