The Sunday Mail
. . . oversubscribed event promotes cultural consciousness
Tendai Rupapa
Senior Reporter
FIRST LADY Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa on Friday broke new ground by hosting an impactful first-of-its-kind African-themed cultural night during which the national dress was showcased and exclusively Zimbabwean beverages — including the famous Seven Days — and cuisine were served, giving guests a deeper sense of belonging and pride in the country’s traditional norms and values.
The inaugural event, which ran under the theme “My Culture My Pride #Jira Takayenda naAmai”, was well-coordinated.
It brought together Cabinet ministers, traditional leaders, designers, models, musicians, foreign dignitaries and the who is who in Zimbabwean society.
It was a marvel to see guests of various races and creed resplendent in apparel made from the national fabric — which gave them an unmistakable Zimbabwean identity.
Vice President Dr Constantino Chiwenga, who was the guest of honour, addresses delegates during the cultural night organised by First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa at State House on Friday
The top-drawer event was spiced up by a modelling contest, which gave guests a glimpse into evening, cultural, corporate and casual wear made from the national fabric.
Designers and models drawn from all the country’s provinces, who were given the national fabric by the First Lady to show a range of apparel it can be morphed into, did not disappoint.
Winners of the mother of the nation’s traditional meal cookout competition from all the provinces, led by Amai Mnangagwa, prepared various traditional dishes the way they do back home.
They also prepared the homemade alcoholic brew that is popularly known as Seven Days, which left people crying out for more.
Musicians Suluman Chimbetu, Diana Samkange, Gwevedzi and Mathias Mhere during their collaborative piece called “Jira Takayenda naAmai” while clad in designer attire made from the national fabric at the cultural night at State House on Friday
Dishes prepared included mazondo, dried vegetables in peanut butter, matumbu (casings), maguru (tripe), zvinyenze and dried meat in peanut butter.
Pumpkin leaves, green mealies, sweet potatoes, pumpkin in peanut butter (nhopi), samp, mopani worms (madora), traditional rice, sorghum sadza, millet sadza and round nuts completed the array of dishes on offer.
Musicians — who include Mathias Mhere, Sulumani Chimbetu, Andy Muridzo, Diana Samkange, Karingezuva and Gwevedzi traditional groups — performed at the function, where they got everyone onto the dance floor after belting out a collaborative piece called “Jira Takayenda naAmai”.
Vice President Dr Constantino Chiwenga, who was the guest of honour, paid tribute to the First Lady’s contributions to the nation’s cultural and socio-economic development.
Models and their designers display their national fabric attire at the cultural night that was organised by First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa at State House on Friday
“Let me express my heartfelt gratitude to my Amaiguru, the First Lady of Zimbabwe, Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa, for ever thinking of this noble idea, namely, to republicise and promote our national dress in this very special and impactful way.
“Given who she is and what she continues to do for our nation, from assisting disadvantaged individuals, the girl-child, marginalised families, right through to communities, I am the least surprised.
“This latest initiative is very much in character, and expands on her role and personality as a sensitive mother figure who daily administers to the welfare needs of our nation,” he said.
When the national dress project was launched, Dr Chiwenga said, not many Zimbabweans grasped what all that meant.
Chinese children clad in the Zimbabwean national fabric model at the cultural night that was organised by First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa at State House on Friday
“To many, it was just one of those wasteful things. To others, it was yet another instance of the ZANU PF prescribing what the citizen must wear, indeed yet another case of ‘command’ politics for which we are undeservedly derided by our detractors.
“But a few who saw and see far, saw beyond cloth, dress, wrapper and shirt. They saw the personality and character of a people being reinvented for an independent Zimbabwe.”
He went on to say that a person’s identity can be inferred a lot from their attire.
“We are what we dress! When I say so, I am going deeper than mere individual personality, what I am alluding to is at the heart of national identity. Our identity as a free and sovereign people.
“Our identity as an African nation. Yes, our identity as Zimbabweans. It is not by mere coincidence that more than four decades after our independence, our sense of dressing is exclusively Caucasian, British to be specific.
“We have to ask ourselves why this is so. How we feel covered and dressed coincides with our historical association and experience with our former colonisers, the British.
“We never sought to dress like Russians. We never sought to dress like the Chinese or like Arabs, like Indians or the Aborigines. Most of all, we cast away the apparel of our forefathers — an African apparel — to dress ourselves anew with made-in-England garments or material,” he said.
That choice and exercise, he said, was much more than a decision to protect ourselves from the elements — the cold, the wind, the sun, the rain and dust.
“In fact, in a variety of ways, and to ridiculous levels, we often dressed against the requirements of our weather. Imagine an African gentlemen wearing a three-piece suit, a tie and a hat against the sweltering September heat in the heart of the Savannah! Asi taishingirira as we baked black, consoling ourselves using the British saying ‘a gentleman has no weather’! Who was the model gentleman? From which nationality? Of course, the model gentleman was British, and imitating this imported model became the measure of civilisation and modernity! Therein coincides dressing and identity. We swapped our pre-colonial national dressing habits for that of the conqueror!” he said.
Dr Chiwenga gave a reverting example of what happened during the colonial era.
Models display their designer national fabric attire at the cultural night that was organised by First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa at State House on Friday. – Pictures: John Manzongo
“A small history, dear First Lady! The biggest frustration of early white hunters, gold seekers, missionaries and, much later, empire builders, with the successive Ndebele monarchs was that neither King Mzilikazi nor his son, Lobengula, ever wanted to wear gifts of Western clothing that were given to them.”
“To our white visitors, this suggested how ‘unreconstructed’ these ‘heathen’ people were! Missionaries who came into our country and embedded themselves in the King’s Court, went a step further: they built a ‘modern’ house for King Lobengula. What made it modern were two things: brick and mortar and its rectangular shape. Yet the rectangular shape was not African. The African built environment was typically round, and hence a rondavel. They say a circle symbolises completeness, perfection, which is why our built environment was always circular. King Lobengula never spent a day, or a night in that ugly rectangular house. Instead he turned it into a storeroom for all those foreign gifts which westerners gave him. When it came to his living quarters or rainmaking rituals, he always retreated into his rondavel, itself typical of African culture,” he said.
He hailed the First Lady for her various interventions through her Gota/Nhanga/Ixhiba Programme, which he described as a project to reconstruct “our national identity”.
“Today we are victims of countless diseases, many of which were never known to our forefathers. We now suffer maladies which are usually associated with other races, other nationalities. Why? Largely because of what we eat nowadays, none or a small portion of which is traceable to Africa or Africans. Today, Africa imports well over US$700-billion worth of foodstuffs, most of it Western processed foods! Little does our continent realise it is importing weakness into the aboriginal frame which explained why our forebears lived longer, always stronger. When the First Lady goes on a campaign to promote the consumption of local dishes, she does much more than feed the stomach: she restores the national body frame by restoring its long lost resilience.
“We are what we wear! We are where we live! We are what we eat! And what we eat is more than food; it is our identity. Every people have their own dish — what we now call national cuisine. We have adopted cuisines of other nations; the dressing habits of other nations; the built environment of other nations; lock, stock and barrel. Need we wonder then that we have strayed from the ways of our parents? How do you reject the politics, the economics, the dominance of a people who give you models for food, for shelter and for clothing, themselves core basics of life?” he said.
Acting President Chiwenga encouraged the First Lady to continue working hard, even when she might feel she was doing a thankless job.
“First Lady, you are onto something really big in the identity formation of our nation. I call it the software of our being as a sovereign people. Never tire, even when your efforts might look thankless. Nyika inosimira zvayo; haipfekedzwi nevatorwa! What we are promoting here is not party regalia, it is not ZANU PF regalia. This is the national dress. It stands above partisan politics. It is a national identity marker for our nation. It must never be subjected to the bickering of political parties. We must wear Zimbabwean, which is why the mother of our nation is the champion of this project,” he said.
Dr Chiwenga said the national fabric needed to be readily available since it was neither for urbanites alone, nor the rich, but for the whole country, including people in rural areas.
“Thirdly, we are doing much more than dressing ourselves. We are branding our nation. We are making a statement about ourselves as Zimbabweans, as does many other nations around us. To that end, a strong case must be made for Government to subsidise this effort, more so that the mother of our nation is at the centre of it. Amai mondisiyirawo nyaya iyoyo. Our tourism, our culture departments must embrace and promote this project, to assist the First Lady. Your Excellency, you will not walk alone on this noble journey. We are together. We must now identify ourselves as Zimbabweans.”
The First Lady said she had prepared the cultural night in honour of all the cultures in the country that make us uniquely Zimbabwean.
“Our traditions, pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial history, ethical values and societal structure have largely been defined by external scholars and philosophers who have shown greater interest in trying to explain the culmination of Zimbabwean nationhood. The changing from our colonial indoctrination left us abandoning who we are and that which defines us in our language. Today ladies and gentlemen we are here to change this trajectory and ensure a paradigm shift as we press our prehistorical cultural identity and the vortex of our cultural renaissance. We are no longer asking the questions reflecting various identity crisis such as who are we and what is our history now? Instead, we are celebrating who we have always been as Africans in Zimbabwe,” she said.
Dr Mnangagwa explained the importance of cultural identity.
“Tonight is a celebration of our culture, the essence and our purpose to the great Zimbabwe. Our identity and our history go hand in hand with the development of our nation. These cultural celebrations will not end here, but will disseminate to all the provinces of Zimbabwe. Ladies and gentlemen, I decided to launch this natural fabric because we as Zimbabweans have been lacking that definitive structure to the world in terms of dress that we can make the outside world at a glance to identify us. Our sacred national bird, Chapungu, is the national symbol of Zimbabwe which our ancestors used to relay our messages from God just as the dove in the bible is considered a messenger bird. This bird is the highlight of our fabric, thus removing ambiguity on the nationality of our fabric which is a purely Zimbabwean symbol,” she said.
Herself grounded in the country’s norms and values, the First Lady emphasised the importance of maintaining one’s cultural identity.
“Language is more than just words. It embodies the values, beliefs, customs and traditions of a particular culture. It shapes how we perceive the world around us and influences our thoughts, behaviour and interactions with others. Through language we express our unique identity and accept our place within society. Language plays a crucial role in cultural identity for nations. If from an early age our children learn our native tongue, they can then absorb the nuances that define our culture which reflects our upbringing, social status and even regional affiliations.
“Our language becomes an integral part of who we are, a source of pride that connects us to our roots. Additionally, language serves as a tool for cultural preservation. By preserving indigenous languages or dialects, communities can safeguard the rich history and traditions for future generations. Language acts as a vessel through which valuable knowledge is transmitted across time and at the same time language also preserves cultural heritage by allowing communities to pass down traditions and values from one generation to another. Therefore, the importance of language can never be overstated. Ladies and gentlemen, today is a traditional galore from the gastronomy we prepared for you today in the form of beverages and cuisines to the music and dressing. Everything is entirely Zimbabwean. It is my hope that you do enjoy the experience and with these remarks I welcome you to the First Lady’s cultural night,” she said.
Minister of Defence Cde Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri lauded Amai Mnangagwa for working tirelessly towards the revival and promotion of Zimbabwean culture, which is key in binding the nation together.
Delivering a vote of thanks, chairman of the Mashonaland East Chiefs Council, Chief Senator Nechombo, described the event as historic and thanked Dr Chiwenga for his presence and support.
“Your Excellency Amai, today loud and clear you have shown us as a nation that if we are to develop and go forward as a nation we should go back and rediscover and embrace our mighty precious cultural values which we left behind. On behalf of our communities, our institution of traditional leadership and the nation at large, as traditional leaders we stand before you today to thank you and give testimony of the great work you are doing for our great nation. As traditional leaders, we are so humbled and excited by your commitment and visionary leadership in complementing our statutory obligations of positioning, preserving and promoting our culture,” he said.
Traditional leaders, he said, were mindful and awakened to the reality that yesterday the nation’s culture was subdued and suppressed, but the First Lady had seen it befitting to position, preserve and promote it.
“You have shown us that our culture is our source of pride, unity and identity. You have shown us Amai that our culture is our source of moral fabric, social cohesion and peace. You have shown us that our culture is the backbone of socio-economic development. Today, we are here, celebrating, enjoying, drinking and eating together, signifying the indispensability of our culture,” he said.
In jest, the Senator said the home-brewed beer – Seven Days – was so sweet and this should compel the Liquor Licensing Board to take action and even Parliament must have discussions over that.
Winners in the various modelling categories were named, adding colour to the glitzy event.
In the cultural category the first prize went to Masvingo while Matabeleland North came second.
Mashonaland Central province won the Evening Wear category, with the Midlands Province coming second.
In Corporate wear, Mashonaland Central Province ruled the roost followed by Bulawayo.
Manicaland had the best casual wear with Bulawayo in second position.
Prizes included cash, the national fabric, holiday vouchers for two nights at various tourism resorts in Victoria Falls, Kariba, Masvingo, Nyanga, Matopo and Hwange.
