Zimpapers Logo

Claude Maredza Correspondent
These Shoko Mbire/Tonga/Dziva/Hungwe soldiers in Dombodzvuku’s army would not be referred to as Varozvi only but also as Dhewa and even Moyondizvo/Mondizvo as these are descriptions of the military’s modus operandi and not any tribal or totemical descriptions.

Of course, the Moyo Chirandu people might want to monopolise the descriptions of Rozvi/Duma/Dhewa/Moyondizvo/Mondizvo/Bvumavaranda, etc, because it gives them the bragging rights of having been initiated by the Moyo Chirandus as they experienced life in different circumstances.

But these different experiences did not end up with these people becoming something else other than Moyo Chirandu.

So the bragging rights are really as far as it goes if the Moyo Chirandus want to hit their chests a bit for having these extra descriptions as these were never tribal or totemical descriptions so the Moyo Chirandus must not be carried away to either start; first segmenting and compartmentalizing each other using these descriptions and, secondly, rendering other tribal groupings any lesser, simply because these descriptions which became en vogue in the polity of Zimbabwe came about as a result of the Moyo Chirandus’ experiences.

That Dombodzvuku, a clear Moyo Chirandu, might have also found the description VaRozvi amusing and en vogue given that he had successfully executed his military mission and he then went on to take on this description as some nom de guerre does not amount to it becoming some branch of the Moyo Chirandu to justify somebody wanting to monopolise the VaRozvi term. There is clearly no basis of anybody thinking that the term belongs to them because it is a descriptive term given to the modus operandi of the contingent of the army which fought the Portuguese insofar as they punished the Zimbabwean regional chiefs — kurozva — who had sold out to the Portuguese, and this army’s make-up was obviously a mish-mash in composition comprising the Moyo Chirandus and definitely with elements of the Shoko Mbire, the Dziva/Hungwe/Kalanga and the Tonga (Tau, Dau).

The same thing applies to descriptions like Dhewa and or Moyondizvo/Mondizvo.

It’s not entirely preposterous to liken this Dhewa or VaRozvi description to the various units of today’s Zimbabwe National Army, like the Commando Brigade or Signals or paratroopers or Infantry or Artillery, etc.

These are mere departments of the same Zimbabwean army. You don’t begin to belong to some other nation’s army simply because you are in the Commando Brigade.

You still remain part and parcel of the Zimbabwean army and that you just happen to be in the Commando Brigade side of that same Zimbabwean army is neither here nor there as you are still a Zimbabwean soldier, full stop, whichever brigade of the Zimbabwean army you are attached to.

That’s really what Rozvi and Dhewa would amount to as in Rozvi they were describing the kurozva which is a modus operandi and in Dhewa they were describing the prowess of the same commander of the same army using his surname, so Dhewa’s soldiers, mauto a Dhewa, therefore Dhewa.

Can this become totemic or tribal?

Perhaps we can illustrate this using a much more current example, that of what we now call ex-combatants in Zimbabwe today, i.e. those who were guerrillas during the 1960s/1970s war that culminated in Zimbabwe’s independence in1980.

Can these ex-combatants now become some sort of tribe by themselves in Zimbabwe?

Of course not. They can get all the eulogies and praises they deserve for having fought in the war but they still remain Zimbabweans.

They have not become some exclusive tribe of Zimbabwe, have they?

They were given all kinds of monikers; like the racist white people wanted to call them magandanga or terrorists or Charlie Tangos standing for communist terrorists, while we affectionately referred to them as vanamukoma/maComrades, etc, during the war but that does not mean that they ceased to be Zimbabweans.

Neither have they become some tribe unto themselves in Zimbabwe.

In fact, the case of the ex-combatants makes a good illustration and comparison with the VaRozvi/Dhewa/Duma/Moyondizvo/Mondizvo descriptions of the Moyo Chirandu.

This is because in one family you may find one or two people who are ex-combatants and other members of the same family who didn’t become guerillas during the liberation war.

Does it make the ex-combatants any different people from the families they belong to simply because they are ex- combatants. Of course not.

They still remain the same members of their families and still remain Zimbabweans like all other Zimbabweans.

They just have this other additional accolade because they participated in the war but that’s just that. They still remain Zimbabweans like everybody else even if they have this extra accolade.

They are still members of their families even if they went to war.

The same applies to the Duma/Rozvi/Dhewa/Moyondizvo/Mondizvo, etc, descriptions as they apply to the Moyo Chirandu.

These are just descriptions of the same Moyo Chirandu and they still remain Moyo Chirandu, however they are described. Is it clearer now?

General Mutinhima Dhewa, aka Dombodzvuku aka Dhewa aka Murozvi aka Moyondizvo/Mondizvo certainly did not drop his Moyo Chiranduness because of these praise names eulogising his military prowess.

That was impossible and that couldn’t be possible.

He remained a Moyo Chirandu totally interwoven with all his other Moyo Chirandu relatives, however the public described them, be it Duma, Dhewa, Rozvi, etc.

So in view of all this, why then would one want to call themselves Moyo Chirandu Murozvi, Moyo Chirandu Dhewa or Moyo Chirandu Duma seeing as the words Duma, VaRozvi, Dhewa are mere descriptions of the same Moyo Chirandu people.

So you are a Moyo Chirandu first and always. You have never been anything else. All these other descriptions are just that, descriptions which will not make you anything else other than a Moyo Chirandu.

Before there was Duma, there was Moyo Chirandu. Before there was Rozvi, there was Moyo Chirandu. Before there was Dhewa there was Moyo Chirandu. Once a Moyo Chirandu always a Moyo Chirandu. Duma/Dhewa/Rozvi are mere descriptions.

Claude Maredza is a member of the Moyo Chirandu (Duma) Dynasty, specifically of Norumedzo Village ( KuHarurwa), Bikita, Masvingo, Zimbabwe and is in fact a Crown Prince of the Norumedzo Moyo Chirandu (Duma) Kingdom Royalty.   He has doctoral level formal education and everything else below that besides other professional qualifications. He is also a well known published author and film writer/producer/director/actor. Claude Maredza’s contact details are; e mail;[email protected]; phone: 00 263 (0) 77 2 382 099.