Sekai Nzenza on Wednesday
When Ghana was playing against German in the 2014 World CUP finals game two, a week ago, this guy called Wanda declared that he was backing Germany. Everyone in Mutero bar, Gutu, was shocked, surprised, disappointed and confused by such an anti-Africanist nationalist statement from a Zimbabwean, born and bred in this country which is part of Africa.
I was not in Mutero bar when this happened. But I heard the full story from the barman and from Wanda himself and others when we were all gathered to watch Brazil play against Chile last Saturday. We were in Gutu, this last weekend, visiting my aunt, Tete vangu, sister to my father, who married here many years ago. This place is situated near the Devure River in Gutu, more than 250 kilometres from my village in Hwedza. With me was brother Sidney, cousin Piri as usual and Sekuru Kwenda, nephew to my grandmother Mbuya VaMandirowesa’s maternal side. We had travelled this far south to consult Tete about the forthcoming dry season village ceremonies in honour of our dead, kurova makuva.
Instead of sitting down with Tete and carry out the family discussions, Sidney and Sekuru Kwenda said our timing for this visit to Gutu was all wrong. With the World Cup matches being screened at Mutero bar only a kilometre and a half away from Tete’s village compound, how could we sit around a small fire with no power, no radio or television when we could hear the loud voice of the English commentator blurring away across the valley, past the kraals and the hills all the way to our ears. That voice dominated everything.
Even the night owls, hyenas, jackals and the witches must have heard it too. During World Soccer Cup matches, the English voice and the cheering of masses of people in Brazil could be heard by satellite all the way to this dry rocky place.
We left Tete to her prayers, because she belongs to the Apostolic Faith, and arrived at Mutero bar just before the Brazil and Chile game.
Several men sat on the benches and some were standing around the bar and not drinking beer or anything. They had walked distances as long as 10 kilometres from behind Rasa Mountains to come and watch the match.
At Gonye Growth Point, Mutero bar was packed with men. The television was held against the wall high up, away from the people who might want to touch it or get emotional and misuse it. There was an iron bar screen between the barman and the crowd. Most bars in Zimbabwe are like that in order to protect the money or the beautiful girl behind. After a few beers, some men like to admire and get too close to bar girls.
Only a handful were drinking a beer here and there but the rest in the bar could not afford a dollar for a pint of beer or 50 cents for a soft drink. They had been coming here every night to watch the game since this World Cup started. Some teenage boys sat on a bench in front. They were students from Guzha, the school further down the road.
The barman pointed at Wanda and told us that he was the guy from Devure River in Gutu, who got up and told everyone packed in bar that he was going to support Germany against Ghana just before the match two weeks before. That had caused uproar from 50 or more men in the bar.
We stood next to Wanda and Piri was immediately interested in him. Drinking a soft drink, looking tall and confident wearing a leather jacket, jeans and track shoes, Wanda kept on looking at his phone. Then Piri introduced herself to Wanda and asked why he had supported Germany instead of Ghana. It was not as if Piri cared much about soccer or who was playing who; she just wanted to start a conversation with Wanda. In no time at all, she knew that he was a builder in his early 40’s. He did not drink alcohol but he did not mind women who drank so as long as they did not smoke. As the conversation progressed, I told Piri to stop interrupting Wanda because I could see that he was a man who read the news on his phone. He kept on checking his phone for messages from WhatsApp, Facebook and emails.
Before the game started, Sidney and one of the teachers from Guzha School took Wanda to task. How could he have supported Germany against his own fellow countrymen and women of Ghana? Did he not know that Ghana was the first African country to get independence in 1957, making all Africa proud? Before colonisation, Ghana was called the Gold Coast and as a country, Ghana had suffered so much from slavery. The people of Ghana were our brothers and sisters because at one time we were both colonised by the British. Wanda should be ashamed of himself because football was not just football, it was about being proud to be an African.
Another older man who was wearing a long heavy jacket and a cap with a Manchester United logo on it added that anyone who did not support an African country during the World Cup match the way Wanda did showed lack of respect for Ghana and for Africa. Ghana, under Kwame Nkrumah paved the way for unity and cooperation among Africans. It was Nkrumah and others who formed Pan Africanism and promoted African unity at the 1958 Pan African conference. Did Wanda not know that when it comes to World Cup soccer matches, Africa becomes a country? It is a platform to revisit old grievances and over a level playing field on the soccer field.
The man in the heavy long jacket and the teachers added bits and pieces of history about soccer in Africa. I learnt that Ghana had the oldest surviving soccer club in Africa called the Cape Coast Excelsior founded in 1903. The Confederation of African Football was formed at the 29th FIFA Congress in Bern, Switzerland, in June 1954. At that time the first four African nations were Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan and South Africa. As more African nations became independent, they started taking part in FIFA but South Africa under apartheid was excluded from international soccer for 30 years. In 1996, Nigeria won gold at the Olympic in Atlanta, USA. Cameroon won gold again in 2000 with Samuel Eto’o as the star in Sydney, Australia four years later. Africa was so proud of the two gold medals.
When Wanda got an opportunity to speak, he said he was not going to be deterred from supporting Germany or any other European country. Supporting a football team was based on personal choice. Who told them to support Arsenal or Manchester United? We must fight our wars in peace and soccer was another way of showing our unity within the continent and also with European countries.
Colonialism was dead and gone.
Wanda was not interested in the past. He was living in the present. He said the world was changing. In the age of globalisation we should be proud of our Africanness while acknowledging our connectedness to the rest of the world. As far as he was concerned, it was pointless to support African nations because they never make it to the final of the World Cup anyway. Most of Africa’s World Cup players play club soccer for European teams in Europe anyway so what has history or politics got to do with anything anymore? African talent is already gone to Europe because of money and Europe. In the end Europe is still the winner at the expense of Africa. Already, Ghana is out and the balloon of hope we had rested on Nigeria and Algeria, who both reached the last 16 of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and on Monday night that hope was extinguished as both nations lost to European giants, Germany included.
The argument continued until the game between Brazil and Chile started. The barman said he wanted Brazil to win against Chile because during slavery, many Africans were taken to Brazil. Some Africans over there had remained quite black like us while others are brown or almost white through mixing with the Spanish and other indigenous people. Chile? He did not know enough about that country but he knew that Brazil plays good football so it was best to support the country and the players he already knew.
Brazil and Chile ended in a draw. Then there were a penalty shoot-out and Brazil won. The level of uproar was heart-warming. The song by the singer called Sugar Sugar whose real name is Tauruvinga Manjokota, blurred away from the big speaker above our heads. There was an instant party at Mutero bar. Guys stood on benches and danced. Each one to their own style.
Some of the school kids danced too. For a moment they forgot about the lack of money, the drying up of water holes and the dying vegetables at Guzha school due to lack of water. By half past ten, most of the men and the school kids had started walking the long journey home in the cold under the light of stars.
As we left Mutero bar to walk home through the tall dry grass in single file, I realised that we were just a tiny crowd of millions of fans around the world tuning in to the television via satellite to watch the World Cup. Like many others, we showed our emotions. We were not just Africans, but part of an international community living in a global world where allegiances, cultures and identities will continue to shift over time.
- Dr Sekai Nzenza is CEO of The Rio Zim Foundation. She writes in her personal capacity.