Kushandiswa Muuviri Hunopikisana kweNhoroondo yeGambakadzi Nehanda muKuvaka Zimbabwe kubva kuma1960 kusvika Nhasi Uno

The Ambivalent Appropriation of the Legend of Nehanda in Nation-Building in Zimbabwe, 1960s to Present

Resumo

Basa reatikoro ino kumutsa zvematongerwo enyika nemweya zvine chokuita nerunganombiri rwaNehanda kutanga kumakore ekuma1960 apo hondo yekurwisa rusununguko rwenyika yeZimbabwe yakaputika munyika yaimbova Rhodesia. Yakanangana nekuratidza huchokwadi hwepfungwa inoti magamba haafi kunyangwe paine vamwe vanenge vachiedza kuasvibisa nekudzima zvimiro zvawo sezvakaitwa kugambakadzi Nehanda munguva yeupambevhu. Yakatsamirana nenyaya yehurumende yeupambevhu yekudzima gambakadzi iri kubva mukupambwa kwakaita nyika yeZimbabwe kusvika yasununguka muna1980, atikoro ino inoongorora matanho evatungamiri vekurwira rusununguko pamwe nemhomho yevanhu vose yekumutsiridza nekuraramisa kasingapere gambakadzi muhwaro rwekurwira rusununguko, kupemberera rusununguko, urongwa hwekutora ivhu uye nemunguva yeHurumende yeChipiri. Mongo wedambudziko retsvagurudzo yeatikoro ino kubvunzisisa nezvemamiriro ekuvaka kana kurongonyora uye nekutora nomazvo kana zvisizvo kwegambakadzi Nehanda uye nezvazvakakonzera munyika yeZimbabwe. Chinyorwa chino chinoshandisa nzira yetsvagurudzo ine chokuita nemafungiro evanhu, unhu hwavo nezvanosangana nazvo munhoroondo dzavo nemagariro avo. Urongwa hwetsvagurudzo hwakashandiswa hunosanganisira mibvunzo kumasangano ezvematongerwo enyika nezvitendero pamwe neveruzhinji rwevanhu. Izvi zvakaitirwa kuziva ruzivo rwavo maringe nezvaNehanda uyezve nekukosha kwake nekurudziro yake kuvanhu muZimbabwe zvekare nemaonero avanomuita. Zvinyorwa zvetsvagurudzo zvakaongororwa zvinosanganisira maraibhurari nezvepadandemutande zviri mumhando dzemaatikoro, mabhuku nemapepanhau zviri maringe negambakadzi remukurumbira iri. Ichitungamirirwa nePfungwa yeHwaro yeMaonero eVobwo iyo inokoshesa nzira dzekuziva dzevobwo  uye nemasiyanirano adzo nenzira dzekuziva dzemadokero, atikoro ino inopopota ichiti kushandiswa kwerunganombiri rwaNehanda kwaita zvikonzero zvine uviri hunopikisana muZimbabwe. Nerimwe divi mhikisano iyi inokonzera kukamurana kwevanhu mune zvematongerwo enyika nekuoma kwezvinhu mumagariro neupfumi hwawo, nerimwe divi zvekare ichiunza rufaro rwerusununguko rwenyika nekutorwa kweminda.    

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This article is pre-occupied with the politico-religious resuscitation of the legend of Nehanda since the 1960s when the armed struggle for Zimbabwe’s independence broke out in then Rhodesia. It is concerned with affirming the hypothesis that legends never die despite attempts by others to demonize and suppress them as done to the legend during the colonial period. Against the backdrop of the colonial government to suppress it since the colonization of Zimbabwe to its independence in 1980, the article evaluates the deliberate efforts by both the nationalists and ordinary indigenous people to revive and immortalize the legend in the context of the liberation struggle, independence celebration, the land reclamation exercise and in the current context of the Second Republic. The core of the article’s research problem is the interrogation of the nature of the (de)construction and (mis)appropriation of the legend and the effect that has had on Zimbabwean society. Employing a qualitative research approach, the research design consists of interviews with religious and political organizations and ordinary Zimbabweans to establish their knowledge of Nehanda and its significance and influence in Zimbabwe and their attitude towards it. Written sources studied included archival, library and online material in the form of articles, books and newspapers. Informed by the Indigenous Standpoint Theory’s indigenous ways of knowing and their distinction from their western counterparts, the article argues that the appropriation of the Nehanda has had ambivalent repercussions in Zimbabwe causing political polarisation and socio-economic hardships on one hand and independence and land acquisition on the other.