Know your author: Claude Mararike

Born in 1940, in Buhera, Prof Mararike attended Makumbe Mission School in Buhera before going to Zimuto Secondary School in Masvingo.

Due to involvement in political activities he and most of his classmates were expelled from school while studying for a junior certificate.

In 1991, he went to Morgenster Teachers college for a teacher-training course. After graduating, he taught at Nyashanu Mission School in Buhera and during that time he was completing his Ordinary Level studies.

He later went to United school in Mvuma before going to Highfield Community School between 1966-1967.

Highfield Community School was a private school pioneered by the likes of Cde Josiah Chinamano.
Prof Mararike took the opportunity to study for his Advanced Level certificate.

After Highfield, Prof Mararike went to the University of Zimbabwe to read for a Bachelor of Arts but left for Malawi to attend the Malawi Congress Party convention under the Zanu wing. In Malawi, he worked with the likes of Elias Rusike, Agrippa Sevenzai, who were all representing Zanu. Upon his return from Malawi, Prof Mararike immediately left for Botswana following a tip off that he was on the Rhodesian police wanted list.

In Botswana, he joined other refugees and later took a teaching post. While there, he worked with the likes of boxer Stalin Mau Mau and the late General Vitalis Zvinavashe. In 1975, he joined Radio Botswana, where he used to travel to cover stories in places like Gaborone, Lusaka and Maputo. He stayed there until 1979. During that time he completed his Bachelor of Arts degree with the University of South Africa.

Prof Mararike came back to Zimbabwe just before the elections in 1979 as part of the advance team.
While back in the country, he joined Inter-Africa News Agency where he was one of the first black Zimbabweans to join the organisation.

After the elections in 1980, he joined the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Co-operation and during that time he would accompany the then Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Cde Robert Mugabe on his trips.

“I covered stories like the first Sadc meeting, the OAU Summit in Freetown, Sierra Leone and later went to the United Nations to cover the admission of Zimbabwe into UN. What was most important is that all these activities in teaching and broadcasting were a contribution to the liberation struggle in Zimbabwe,” Prof Mararike said.

In 1986, he enrolled at the University of Zimbabwe to study for a BSc honours in Sociology.
Prof Mararike later joined the UZ as a lecturer in the Department of Sociology.

In 1989, he read for a Master of Philosophy and later enrolled for a Doctor of Literature and Philosophy both were research degrees. Apart from academic work, he has been a member of the Chinhoyi University of Technology council since 2003. He also lectures at the same university on a regular basis. He is also a Commissioner on the Forestry Commission Board.

Prof Mararike was the Chairperson of the Traditional Medical Practitioners Council between 2004 and 2005.

He was also a member of the National Arts Council and on the Tutorial Board of Mambo Press and he was one of the first members of the Broadcasting Authorities of Zimbabwe. He is married to Angeline and they had five children, three girls and two boys. One of the boys is late and they have 10 grandchildren.

Prof Mararike, who owns a farm in Doma, Mhangura, said he is fairly successful despite the difficulties Zimbabwe has faced in recent years.

He officially retired in 2005, but is still at the University of Zimbabwe on post-retirement work. He says as long as his health is still ok, he will continue working because his work is his passion.

Commonly known as the Igwe in his circles, the Professor, who is a household name in culture and tradition has appeared on several programmes on both radio and TV. He co-hosted the programme, Chikristu neTsika with Gift Mabhaudhi, on the then Radio 2 (now Radio Zimbabwe) for almost 10 years. He has also featured on TV programmes like Nhaka Yedu and Living tradition with the likes of Vimbai Chivaura, Professor Sheunesu Mpepereki and Dr Tafataona Mahoso. Some of Prof Mararike’s publications include, Grassroots Leadership (1995), African Heritage: Our rallying point (2001) Sports, Juju and the Human factor development (2004), The Human Factor Approach to Development in Africa (1998).

The book, The Human Factor Approach to Development in Africa, won First price in 1999 in the non-fiction category at the Harare International Book Fair.

The book challenges the error-prone view that Africa’s development problems are largely due to the lack of material resources, shortage of skilled manpower and sophisticated technology.

The book is a contribution to existing literature on the search for development approaches, which produce significant improvement on the livelihood of the majority of people in Africa. Prof Mararike’s other book — Survival Strategies in Rural Zimbabwe — answers the question of how people in Zimbabwe respond to various life-threatening crises, how they are helped or hindered by the actions and responses of others.

His monograph, The Role of Madzishe in Nation Building, discusses the significance of chiefs, taking into consideration that leadership is an important component in the development of national ethos.

His other Publications include; The Role of Madzishe in National Building (2003), A Historical Overview of Media and Political change in Rhodesia (1993), Indigenous Leadership Styles: Can grapes be picked from an orange tree (1995). Prof Mararike has also authored The Use of Birds and Animal Behaviour as Measures of Environmental Change (1996), The Zimbabwe Human Factor Balance Sheet (1996), The Role of Sport in Human Factor (2006) among other smaller articles and stories.