When the party is over

David Mungoshi  Shelling the Nuts—

Truth sometimes will be found in the most unlikely places, especially painful truth. I never thought that one day I would find it necessary to quote the words of an erstwhile president of the Commercial Farmers Union of Zimbabwe. This union was essentially a segregated gathering, which is to say it was a white people’s organisation and therefore a relic of pre-independence days.The Independence cabinet set up after April 18, 1980, was essentially a mosaic of compromises, with former Rhodesian cabinet ministers like David Smith and Chris Andersen holding portfolios in recognition of the paradigm of reconciliation that Zimbabwe had embarked on.

Also brought on board was a Mr Dennis Norman, who was given the task of running the Agriculture Ministry. Then things began to happen.

The Rhodesian Front party morphed into the Conservative Alliance of Zimbabwe. In the second elections of an independent Zimbabwe in 1985, the Conservative Alliance easily won all the seats preserved for whites at the pre-independence Lancaster House conference of 1979.

This was like a slap in the face by a white constituency that seemed unrepentant and ebullient. Prime Minister Mugabe (at the time) dismissed the white Ministers in his cabinet.

Dennis Norman was philosophical about his dismissal. In his own words this is how he rationalised the development: “When the party is over you go home. It is the same with all invitations.”

This is an existential question that we all face and must respond to at some point in time and in some context or other.

It could be that you were in some temporary job or posting. Or, it could simply be that it’s closing time and the lights are blinking as the barman announces last orders and the bouncers start getting slightly more restive as they watch the guzzlers sip their last beers with less gusto than they would prefer.

Even bouncers feel dead on their feet at times and look forward to that warm soft bed at the house. This stark lesson of by-gone seasons is something that the hapless Obama and his damp squib administration seem to have missed out.

For, lo and behold, the so-called greatest democracy in the world is proving to be such a power as will give democracy a bad name.

Would you blame the now departed, but iconic musician and poet, Leonard Cohen, for wryly singing, “Democracy is coming to the USA”.

The poor democrats are having a problem accepting defeat and they are threatening all sorts of mischief in the aftermath of their rout. In typical spin-doctor fashion that has sought to place the blame elsewhere for their defeat by a greenhorn racist politician with no political grounding whatsoever.

Hillary Clinton vicariously paid the price for Obama’s being bushier than Bush, George W. And, despite whatever she and her sympathisers might want to believe, the spectre of an ubiquitous Russian cyber brigade playing Big Brother over American elections, somehow doesn’t cut any ice.

We would have to say that America was not the victor in the Cold War that spat Western favourite Gorby (Mikhail Gorbachev) out like an intrusive object in the mouth, one that spoils the good taste of good food.

This is not to welcome the Trump victory in any way. We are just being realistically analytical and uncompromising. The chickens have come home to roost in America and no amount of last minute face-saving action such as the unprecedented abstention by the United States, at the United Nations Security Council in a resolution on illegal Israeli settlements on the Palestinian West Bank.

Not supporting Israel no matter what would have had more than symbolic value if Obama had taken that stance at the beginning of his eight-year reign. But he chose to play Uncle Tom. Africa will shed no tears when Obama leaves in just under four weeks’ time.

Adios Sir Obama, it really was time you left. You have taken the struggle back by decades in America, but finally the party is over and you must go home as all good boys must.

In the aftermath of Trump’s victory, there was on the Internet a lot of poetic flurry with poets and would-be poets almost outdoing themselves writing poems either applauding the victory or bemoaning it.

What this showed me was that poets tend always to be an engaged constituency. You can always count on them to come up with poetic responses to situations that arise. This is certainly something to be emulated and cherished.

Imagine my amazement and gratification therefore when I incidentally discovered a fresh new talent in the arena of performance art and spoken word, the enigmatic and one and only Princess Mutasa Musonza! She is amazing in a number of ways.

Princess is proudly Zimbabwean and readily evokes the totemic beauty of the womenfolk of her people; those of the Zebra clan — vanaMaDube!

Oozing with confidence and allure, Princess (not a stage name) asserts that the savannah would not be that beautiful or romantic without the beauty of the supremely gifted zebra — Chinakisa matondo — the one who makes the forest a beautiful work of art.

The twenty-six year-old artist sounds incredibly confident and wise for one so young. Her bravery is undeniable, especially when she dares to enter the mbira vibes arena after the likes of Ambuya Beulah Dyoko of “Kwaedzera kufamba” fame (the first Zimbabwean woman to be recorded on vinyl with a full mbira ensemble), Stella Rambisai Chiweshe that regal woman with an overwhelming stage presence, and of course, the departed music maestro brought forth by the House of Maraire (perhaps one of few genuinely gifted music families in the region).

A South African academic and ethnomusicologist once remarked that there was more music in Dumi Maraire’s small frame than in anyone else he knew. It is not by coincidence that the great Hugh Masekela, the ace trumpet player has been to Maraire’s place of origin to pay homage to a phenomenal musician and composer. Dumi Maraire was always going to be a class act. His daughter Chioniso Maraire made her own mark with haunting melodies and heart-rending lyrics, nevertheless.

Just when you thought there could not possibly be anyone else, along came the inimitable Hope Masike, urbane and gifted of voice and choreography. Zimbabwe has talent. She was recently in line for a major international award and has made her mark around the world. A graduate of Zimbabwe’s college of Music in Harare, Masike is a worthy representative of the country’s heritage as she plays at venues around the globe. Not only is she appreciative of Zimbabwe’s spiritual art genre anchored on the timbre of an amazing instrument that has conquered the world.

And now Princess Musonza comes along to claim her place in a long line of excellence and is doing so on the basis of sheer grit and conviction.

Musonza has struck an understanding with Mbira DzeNharira and is using the group’s songs as instrumental backing for her poetry whose themes are mature, appealing and well-researched. Musonza is very particular about her identity and in that regard her debut album is called “Restore Identity, Volume 1”, sub-titled “Chakabata Musha Wangu”.

The album which has several well-performed tracks is perhaps a product of Princess Musonza’s sense of identity and belonging. She explains:

From 2015, I started feeling like fighting for something which I discovered later was my identity. So I began kutsvaga, my search to understand what “chivanhu” (Africanness) is and why it was that whenever people speak of it, they do so in scared whispers as if they are talking about the devil himself.

What is clear from what Princess Musonza says is that she is a creative person who does her research diligently and is not afraid to tackle topical issues in her poetry or to go against popular, but perhaps shallow trends.

Her album contains a number of poems that show just how much she has her finger on the pulse of the nation, past, present and future.

Her Zim-Asset poem is an eloquent call to arms in which she breathes life into the country’s current blueprint and debunks the notion that young people concern themselves with frivolous issues only.

“Chakabata Musha Wangu” is a fervent appeal to civilians and politicians alike, to desist from the politics of succession. She argues that Zimbabwe will triumph against the odds and eulogises President Mugabe’s leadership. It does not matter whether one agrees with her or not, Musonza attacks the issues without fear.

Musonza has a singing voice and a remarkable stage presence. She is also a good dancer with a penchant for good choreography.

She has performed at the Zimbabwe Staff College at the KG6 in Harare, and at HIFA. Princess is a voice to watch out for. Zimbabwe, this party is over, and I’m going home till the crystal ball begins to have positive images.

David Mungoshi, an applied linguist, short story writer and poet, is also an award-winning novelist.