Of the Valley of Death, the talking bones and a chieftainship!
THE tarred road snakes down from Harare to Mazowe burying past it field after field of lush green crops.
And, as soon as the road passes Henderson Research Station, it becomes uncomfortably squeezed to almost suffocation, between a dam to the east and a huge mountain range (Mbeve) to the west.
Thereafter, the road frees itself and bolts due north past a small European settlement. This place is ordinarily referred to as Mazowe. Behind this settlement is my story. The white man called the place Iron Mask Farm.
But let us go back to where the road is squeezed to almost suffocation between the dam and Mbeve Mountain Range, for, that is where my grid reference is. Here, legend has it that a huge snake once crossed 6am to 6pm in the early 1980s, blocking traffic. But that is not subject to this instalment.
It is on this snake-crossing point, that I get my bearing to carry the reader behind the sacred Mbeve Mountain Range. Here, huge montane vegetation grows on the slopes, overlooking a valley below. Cliffs and caves, tinged red by the soils are home to many bird species, cliff springers, bats, snakes, bees, plains game, creep-crawlers and little everything else.
The valley below was aptly named The Valley of Death by European settlers in the 1890s, after they lost many lives in fierce battles with the autochthones of the land, the people of the Shumba Simboti (Lion) totem.
I use the word autochthones loosely to mean the original occupants.
On the foot of Mbeve Mountain stays the family of Mr Takawira Mashupiko Sylas Masawi, the custodian of the wrap of land that is defined by this expansive valley dissected by a small river that flows in red froths during the rainy season, in a small trickle in winter, becoming a serpent of sand and red silt during the dry season. This is called Tateguru River translated to the river of the ancestor. Gold abound!
It is here, that one of fiercest battles with European settlers took place in First Chimurenga, forcing the then Chief Nyachuru, to retreat and hide in a cave in Mbeve Mountains. Surrounded and pounded with superior weapons, he refused to surrender and come out of the cave until he succumbed to starvation. That was the sacrifice he paid for this land. Land!
In response the angry white Native Commissioner (the equivalent of District Development Co-ordinator DCC today) later abolished the Nyachuru Chieftainship in 1912, and demoted it to mere headmanship under Chief Chiweshe.
It was common those days to have chieftainships abolished for being “bad Africans” and new chieftainships given to “good Africans.” Again, am not going to go deeper into that one.
Suffice it to say, like or hate this narrative, this history is well documented in the books at the DCC office in Mazowe Dstrict at the Concession Offices. Nyachuru was indeed a chieftainship and not a headman.
After starvation, Chief Nyachuru’s bones were collected, carefully wrapped in traditional regalia and are being kept in a hovel from where they will be buried once the chieftainship has been restored.
Today, the unburied remains of Chief Nyachuru, are the core of the traditional paraphernalia of the chieftainship: they rattle and speak to family members as and when they see it fit to guide the clan to the final restoration of the chieftainship.
On the foot of the Mbeve mountain range, Mr Masawi and his family live with the bones at the shrine, a complex of traditional houses –grass thatched and walled with wraps of white and black cloth. Everything at the complex exudes an aura of tradition, something gothic, yet eerie and profound.
From here Mr Masawi has led the long arduous battle to reclaim the chieftainship until it was granted by the Second Republic. It now awaits officialisation where the greatest part of the process is already done.
For current reference the area which later came to be known as the Valley of Death encompasses part of the now Mazowe Hotel, Iron Mask and Old Mazowe road. It stretched to Mutorashanga, Musonedi, Mt Hampden, Henderson Research, Banket, among other places it bordered with Chief Zvimba.
However, the Second Republic under President Mnangagwa has remained faithful in deconstructing colonial identities which has now seen Nyachuru chieftainship being approved for resuscitation — a development that is now at an advanced stage.
In a recent exclusive interview with The Herald, the chief-designate Masawi, one of the oldest living descendant of the Nyachuru chieftaincy revealed his commitment to seeing the full establishment of the identity of Simboti clan as they set a new tone for economic emancipation in the Mazowe District.
“We have a well-documented and clear history of the chieftainship that was abolished during the colonial era after some of the fellow chiefs sold out to the white man. At the time of its abolishment, we had the 6th chief by the name of Chihuri Mupepi who perished in the caves after the mountain he was hiding in was surrounded by Rhodesian forces until he died of starvation,” narrated chief designate Masawi.
“In 2010 we came back here at Mbeve mountain were the bones of our ancestors lie in the caves. Led by the spirit of our forefathers we have since been working hard to have our true chieftainship restored, however the previous political administration threw spanners in our way until the dawn of the Second Republic.”
Masawi revealed the immense support he got from President Mnangagwa in the fight for the recognition of the chieftainship. “The President is a long-time friend of mine, we shared a bed at Michael Mawema’s house before we got imprisoned during the liberation struggle.
“So he has seen to it that we have been assisted at every stage. We also had Cde Patrick Chinamasa fighting in our corner and as it stands all the paperwork has been dealt with, including the budget for having the official installation process, so we applaud the great works invested in this resuscitation of the chieftainship,” said Masawi.
However, the clan is worried by delays in the installation of the chief. Masawi, a veteran of the liberation struggle and nationalist further revealed that through a visitation from the Nyachuru spirit of the Chiruruvare he was directed to encamp at the foot of Mbeve mountain.
“The spirit pointed us to a cave where the bones of the great Chiruruvare were scattered here at Iron Mask which is why we are still encamped here today. The bones demanded a proper traditional reburial on condition that the Nyachuru chieftainship is restored and traditional cleansing has been done.”
As instructed by the spirit Masawi and family have built huts without brick and mortar. “Our huts are only poles with black and white linen forming the walls that provides our habitat as per the demands of the bones. Ever since we encamped here, we have been drinking water from Tateguru River, we have no hospitals, we do not fall sick or suffer any pestilence because our being here is a fulfilment of the wishes of our ancestors,” added Masawi.
In end, it must be understood that there will always be resistance to such restorations. So many things will be said and many narratives will come out of this but when facts are followed, this is a real chieftainship.
Understandably, land is emotional. Land is life. Land sheds blood. Land is sacrifice. Land is power. And, Mr Masawi who is certainly inspired by the spirits of his people must have naturally created many likes and hates. That is what land is all about. This writer too, has created many enemies and friends by virtue of this instalment. That is land. Land!
But back in my village, elders with cotton tuft hair say, hoes digging the same hole, cannot avoid knocking against each other. It is fact not fiction that the chieftainship cannot be restored without a fight.
Elsewhere in the past few years, the Second Republic has rightfully restored many chieftainships and the Nyachuru case, is therefore, not new. This writer is not a member of the clan and neither is he the main officiant of the clan, but a simple village writer, affixed with correcting colonial wrongs.
Whenever the Nyachuru chieftainship is finally and permanently restored, the bones shall be buried with full traditional honour. Then the family, the clan, the country and the world shall say, there was a man who fought colonialism with his life, blood and bones. Here is a man who fought relentlessly as a living being and as an ancestor. Great men are born and not created.
◆ e-mail: guvaz2008@yahoo.com
‘Today, the unburied remains of Chief Nyachuru, are the core of the traditional paraphernalia of the chieftainship: they rattle and speak to family members as and when they see it fit to guide the clan to the final restoration of the chieftainship’