Chronicle Editor
Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter
WHEN information communication technologies (ICTs) started penetrating Africa in the late 1990s and aggressively at the turn of the millennium, cynics only saw vices that came with the disruptive technology.
While ICTs have created a new global normal, they have also cost some people jobs.
As the world is fast moving towards a digital economy, it means to be more globally competitive, ICT gadgets and services have to be embraced.
Platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Tiktok and WhatsApp have revolutionised communication with the latter being the most popular in Zimbabwe.
Most people in Zimbabwe use WhatsApp for communication purposes, both at business and personal level.
The platform is convenient since even the illiterate can use voice notes or video messages as opposed to typing messages. Long lost friends and family members have managed to locate each through social media platforms.
The power of WhatsApp has seen a Zimbabwean family tracing its family lineage.
The Nkomo family, which originates from Somnene Village in Bulilima, Matabeleland South, has traced their lineage to their great-great grandfather identified as Helani Nkomo. Through his ancestry, they have connected up to six generations, thanks to WhatsApp.
They are now planning to hold a grand get-together having managed to connect 400 relatives-all tracing their roots to Helani.
Plumtree businessman Mr Mkhulunyelwa Nkomo said WhatsApp communication has enabled them to do the unimaginable.
“We are on a path to establish our family lineage and in the process, we have created a
group, which has over 400 members, and we have also managed to connect other members who are not on WhatsApp,” he said.
“The family lineage is called Helani family as Helani is our great-great grandfather, and after him came Sinyanduka and we identified his six siblings. So, we have been connecting everyone whose lineage traces to Helani is being connected to the Nkomo family.”
Mr Nkomo said the exercise started last year and they are planning to hold a get-together in December at Somnene Village in Bulilima District, their ancestral land.
Each head of the family is paying R300 for their families to attend the grand get together.
Mr Nkomo said he believes they will be able to attract over 700 family members. Some of them have started meeting at various places to plan the event.
“So far, we have six generations from my children to my great-great grandfathers and for others it might even be more. As the Helani descendants we have resolved to reconnect with each other. Our people are victims of forced migration due to colonialism while others may have also migrated to other places in search of employment opportunities among other things,” he said.
Mr Nkomo said while his family traces its roots to Somnene Village, they also have members in Tsholotsho, Bambadzi, Brunaperg, Makhulela and Dombodema among other areas.
Some of the family members are based in the diaspora in countries such as South Africa, Botswana, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.
“Through this get together, hopefully, we will be able to document our family history and how the family lineage was established. We intend to write a family book which will then be used to transmit family heritage from one generation to the other,” said Mr Nkomo.
He said establishing the family roots became more pronounced when they realised that there is serious danger of their children marrying each other.
Mr Nkomo said on two occasions they stopped cousins from marrying each other.
The clan has since established family life insurance to support some relatives who might find themselves in difficult situations.
Mr Nkomo said although they have made headway in terms of connecting the lineage, they believe more people might still need to be connected.
Mr Nkomo said those who may want to connect to the family can utilise his contacts 0772351694.
Mr Jeki Mabaleka Nkomo, who is the organising chairman for the get-together, said the response has been overwhelming since they mooted the idea.
“What I know is that we have not been able to identify everyone. We are still searching for each other and we hope by the time we organise the get-together more relatives would have been connected,” he said.
(Nust) lecturer and communication expert, Mr Methuseli Moyo said ICTs have revolutionised communications through bringing proximity to distant families.
“ICTs have brought people closer, and families are exploiting the benefits of technologies to maintain closeness, even across continents. People now have family chat groups where they interact and cultivate the spirit of oneness,” said Mr Moyo.
He said ICTs have overcome remoteness and even loneliness for families separated by migration. – @nqotshili
Online Reporter