DPM Mutambara launches book

Phelimon Joseph Mutambara at the Book Café in Harare.
The Shona novel was written in the 1960s during the colonial era and it took 51 years to have the book finally published.
“Nziramasanga” is a journey across timelines, dating back to colonial Rhodesia when black people fought imperialism in their struggle for independence, right to the modern-day Zimbabwe.
Speaker after speaker hailed the book as a welcome contribution to Zimbabwean Shona literature in the way that it chronicles the history of Zimbabwe using fictitious characters based on real life situations.
Prof Mutambara urged authors to cherish and document their history, culture and traditional values.
“An author should cherish his or her people’s values, history and roots. I went to the national archives and researched on my family tree and I discovered how important it is to document important events in our lives, which is exactly what the late author (Phelimon Joseph Mutambara) does in this book,” he said.
Renowned Shona novelist, Thompson Tsodzo famous for his classic Shona novel “Pafunge”, also urged writers to promote and preserve indigenous languages.
“We should encourage the writing of Shona and Ndebele books and also go an extra mile by shooting films in these languages.
“Phelimon Joseph Mutambara was a proponent of the Shona language which he taught at Goromonzi School, apart from writing this book.
“I met the late Mutambara between 1967 and 1968 and that is how I first got to know him.
“So I was very honoured when I was asked to edit it because rather than just editing the book, I ended up learning a lot from it.
“That is why I say we should promote our mother tongues and also use films as a vehicle of preserving them,” Tsodzo said.
Sarah Kachingwe, an academic who attended the same school with the late Mutambara at Goromonzi where she was his junior, said the author left a legacy for the nation not only in the form of the Deputy Prime Minister but also through the book.
“He was a role model and he inspired us a great deal. He has left a legacy for us all,” she said.
Renowned poet Albert Nyathi recited a poem in tribute to the late author.
Several high-profile dignitaries including Presidential Affairs Minister Didymus Mutasa, Harare lawyer Simplicious Chihambakwe and Chief Mutambara, among others, attended the launch.