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no one would choose such a place for a homestead unless they want to harvest nothing. But in Mukaro communal lands, south west of Mupandawana in Gutu, the dearth of prime farming land makes such places habitable, albeit uncomfortably.
There, on the foot of the western hillock, is the homestead where a traditional kitchen totters with age. Its grass thatch has turned brownish grey with the smoke. There is evidence the eaves of its thatch used to slightly overlap the upright wall but the thatch has receded with time, leaving the impression of a schoolboy’s Mohawk haircut.
The main feature on the hut is a white chalk inscription on the brownish wall, just by the entrance: “God Is Love.”
Inside the hut, black soot dangles from the roof, like a Rastaman’s asymmetrical dreadlocks, proof of long years of smoke gathering from the fireplace. Inside the walls, two more biblical chalk inscriptions invite the eye.
The first is Deuteronomy 28: verse 1 “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.”
The second one is Psalm 23:1 “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
Below the inscriptions are drawings of blossoming roses, right round the inside wall of the hut. Here, notorious jail-breaker and murderer Edgar Edmund Masendeke, was born and bred in a polygamous family.
The Government executed Masendeke in 2002 for the brutal murder of Mrs Eileen Alice Carlisle in Masvingo in 1995 and a spate of armed robberies, rape and jail breaking.
Obviously after the hanging of Edgar Edmund Masendeke and the recent arrest of one of his brothers in Kwekwe for alleged murder and with three other siblings on the run, Mrs Masendeke has every reason to seek divine intervention.
“The writings on the wall give me comfort. I have learnt to accept what God has given me in life. We have a bad name. Masendeke is now a bad name. The family is cursed. The evil always hovers over the family and people cannot stop talking about us. The message is self-explanatory. God is the only salvation. I have surrendered everything to God.
“Day and night I pray to God and ask him why me?
“Why us?
“Why the name Masendeke? I, however, accept that God has the answers for what happens in this family. Mhepo dzemusha uno dzinongosimuka,’’ says Mrs Elizabeth Masendeke.
Slightly more than three decades ago, traditional healer and businessman Timothy Masendeke, married two wives, Eustina and Elizabeth. He had businesses in Gutu and Kwekwe but his wives lived in Gutu. With Eustina the first wife, he fathered Engelbert, Edmond, Edmund also known as Edmore Edgar, then Elvis, Macla, Angeline, Espina, Allen, Emily and Ester. With the second wife Mr Masendeke sired Elson, Earnest, Energy, Eliot, Andrew and Elina. He also sired Munyaradzi with another woman. He also had several other children outside wedlock.
“I got married in 1980. I was the second wife and I am the only one living. The first wife and our husband are both late. I know police in Kwekwe want three of my sons, for alleged murder. They are accused of killing someone but when I last talked to them, they said the person had stabbed one of them first and they beat him up in self-defence.
“These boys grew up good fighters. In fact, they take after their father who was also a good fighter. Their father was very tough and violent. He used to beat us up. He used to beat up other people. It runs in the family. No one picked a fight with my husband and won.
“So with the boys, you start a fight with them at your own peril. You start it then they win. Surprisingly, people start saying the Masendekes are bad. People won’t look at it the other way round. Our name became worse with Edgar and it will never be good again.
“I have surrendered to God. Mhepo dzinongotisimukira, We are always in trouble,” Mrs Masendeke said in a resigned tone.
Talking to Mrs Masendeke is talking to someone clearly troubled by family issues. She is motherly, calm and composed but sure that there is a serious problem in the family.
“I pray to God. I fast. I cannot eat. It is the work of evil spirits. I am a member of the Zion church. Hapana musha usina chivanhu but this is too much. Historically violence runs in the family. I pray to God that my children be as soft as cotton wool.
“I wish God could hear my prayers and make them soft. I know they beat up people but at times people start the fights. It is difficult to clean up this name.
“At the height of Edgar’s reign of terror I gave birth to Andrew, and the nurse jokingly said to me you have given birth to another Edgar, another murderer. That is how bad the name has become,’’ she said.
In Kwekwe, the Masendeke family are a feared lot. No pun entendre! No prejudice intended on the case under investigation, the name Masendeke sends a chill down the spines of many.
In Mbizvo suburb, many people use one of two of the Masendeke boys to recover debts. They are said to be hired to physically settle scores. The fear manifests itself in that no one, including some policemen, is really comfortable discussing the Masendeke for fear of retribution.
“You don’t play with those boys. They are always in a group. They fight together. They are hired to recover debts. They are hired to settle scores. You pick a fight with them and you will forever regret it?
“Look at their house. They fought over it and destroyed it. When they fight among themselves it becomes even more dangerous to watch them. There is nothing left at the house. They now rent in different parts but somehow they still find time to move together,’’ said a neighbour who refused to be named for fear of reprisals.
But Mrs Masendeke says her boys are sometimes victims of other people’s criminal activity.
“I stayed in Kwekwe for six months some other time and those stories about debt recovery were being talked about. I am not sure about them. My children are gold panners. They have claims.
“As for their father’s estate it is common for siblings to fight over that. It is easy for that to happen because there are too many boys in the family.
“They even fought over a shop here in the village and some took roofing material, others doors, others anything they could lay their hands on.
“But the long and short of this issue is that the name is bad. It has long been tainted. There are also evil spirits that continue working on the family. There is the violence that has run in the family, which is part of their history.
“Finally there are other people who take advantage of this name and commit crime using the name. It is a name already tainted so it is easy to use it. It is easy to accept it, when a robber says I am so and so Masendeke.
“Many people make names for themselves in the negative or positive.
“It is very hard and energy sapping to build a good reputation but easy to destroy with one silly act.
“Is there any chemical than can wash off the dirty associated with the Masendeke family?
“Do you know how it feels to be a mother under such circumstances?” she asked mournfully.
Online Reporter