LET’S EMBRACE OUR TRADITIONAL BELIEFS

RICH cultural displays at Mbuya Stella Chiweshe’s burial in Masembura, Bindura, on Tuesday left most mourners impressed.

The mbira legend was given a traditional burial at her arts centre which impressed her family and friends. Mbuya Chiweshe lost her battle against brain cancer on Friday last week at the age of 76.

And people from the music industry have in unison declared that she has left a deep void that would be hard to fill because of her uniqueness. Prior to her death, Mbuya Chiweshe had told her family how she wanted to be buried at her arts centre in a traditional way away from flashes of the cameras.

Although her body was carried from the mortuary to Masembura in a casket, the casket was destroyed and she was buried wrapped in a cloth and reed mat, as per her instruction. Village elders, including Chief Masembura, applauded the family for following Mbuya Chiweshe’s wish to be buried in that way. They said the way she was buried is usually reserved for African chiefs, kings and people from royalty.

A traditional ritual was also performed, this was meant to easily connect the spirit of Mbuya Chiweshe with her ancestors. The family said what made it easy for them to follow her instructions to the letter was because she practiced all these things and nothing was new to them, as she involved them all.

Despite staying in Germany, Mbuya Chiweshe regularly visited her rural home in Masembura as well as her holiday mansion in Goromonzi, which are both designed in a traditional way.

Unlike some local celebrities, she didn’t pretend, but lived the traditional way that she chose from a young age.

There are some lessons the nation can draw from the funeral and burial of Mbuya Chiweshe. It was commendable to note that despite Mbuya Chiweshe and her two daughters living right in the heart of western civilisation in Germany, they never shunned their tradition and culture.

They practiced their cultured unapologetically, something which won them admiration from the Germans. To them, it wasn’t just about playing traditional mbira music, but a way of life.

Her traditional burial was just a reminder that it’s also never too late for people to stick to their culture.

Traditional leaders believe that a number of misfortunes are as a result of people shunning their culture, but they must be at the forefront of practicing it instead of just mourning in public spaces only to live the opposite lifestyle with their families.

It was refreshing seeing a family doing things their own way and mourners conforming.

Most funerals are dominated by Christian hymns, even if the deceased was not a believer, but Mbuya Stella Chiweshe’s family banned all forms of religious liturgy and strictly stuck to their tradition.

They openly told mourners that they were not Christian and had never been to church, and thus they were not going to pretend by following a religion that is foreign to them just to accommodate people.

Instead, the mourners had to fit into the traditional burial rites they chose to follow. It’s time documentaries and books chronicling our traditions and culture are compiled to help the younger generation that may want to go that route.

Let’s document our own history and not wait to be told by westerners how we lived traditionally to avoid distortions that come with such literature.

Let’s embrace ourselves as a people and carve our own identity that will distinguish us from other nations.