A friend of mine,Tatadzei grew up in a luxurious home with relatives visiting them almost everyday .It was really fun because my friend’s rich parents would package groceries for their relatives. The relatives used to pamper him especially the uncles claiming that if he visited them they would slaughter a cow. He would visit them and indeed they would spoil him. He would be treated different from other children so that he would go and give a good report about the relatives to his parents.Uncle Mosinyi became very close to their family because he would send a lot of goodies during harvest time from the villages.Unfortunately this was short lived as Tatadzei’s parents were involved in an accident when they were coming from a business trip.All of a sudden the young man found himself an orphan; this was indeed very tragic for him.
As you know in our African custom that when a rich person dies everyone want to be guilty in terms of ownership of property,even those who were not greeting the deceased will begin to make incredible claims from the deceased’s estate.Remember the words of the deceased becomes diamond,if you say “he/she said….”there will deafening silence from the audience to the extent that you can hear the sound of a pin when it drops.Uncle Mosinyiclaimed that Tatadzei’s father had phoned just after the accident .He had said”U..ncle M..u..par..a..dz..i look after my so…n and wealth unt..il my child grows up”.There was silence from the other end as he kept saying “hello hello hello”.After these emotional words from Uncle Mosinyithere was another round of great mourning,others wailing,screaming ,hitting themselves against the wall claiming that they wanted to kill themselves and follow the deceased.I assure you there was enough to drink and eat after the dramma,so you can imagine the noise and action.
It was clear to everyone that Uncle Mosinyi was going to take over the estate.When he took over the first three months he was very nice to Tatadzei,he would give him pocket money for school,ensure that the maid look very well after him.After three months Uncle Mosinyi decided to relocate with his family to the city that’s when Tatadzei’s life became a living hell.The wife of the uncle reminded the husband that there was no one looking after their home in the village.The uncle suggested their eldest son to go to the village instead and there was a serious protest from the mother who refused to eat claiming that the uncle was favouring his brother’s son.So after emence pressure Tatadzei was sent to the villages to look after the homestead while learning at a nearby school.
Tatadzei was in the rural areas staying alone and attending a very poor school where students will reach form three unable to finish a sentence in English while the Uncle’s children had been taken to a plushy and expensive boarding schools. After two years Tatadzei had become a pure village boy who used to survive from handouts from neighbors and little harvest from the field.In the meantime uncle Mosinyi had forgotten totally about the boy in the village,he had even changed his accent.he was sitting from board meeting to another plundering Tatadzei’s wealth.When Tatadzei miraculously passed Uncle Mosinyi told him there was no money for him to go to university because he was supposed to go with his family to Dubai on holiday.Tatadzei had given up hope of better life when the village chief sold his three beasts to fund the bright and promising youngman to go to university.In life its very sad that when you are down your relatives laugh at you ,but friends often help.The boy went to university and Uncle Mosinyi came fuming at the village chief for sending the youngman to university.He even threatened the village chief and told him that he was good for nothing oldman who was throwing his few beasts in the drain as nothing would come out of the youngman.The oldman was left with only eight cattle after helping the youngman.
When Tatadzei got at the university he got a scholarship to study in Europe and that was the last time anybody heard about him.Being an orphan nobody cared anywhere.After many years everybody just declared him dead as no one had heard about him
In the meantime Tatadzei became a successful scholar and businessman right in the Queen’s land(UK).When he heard that there was cholera epidemic in Africa he was very troubled because he had not forgotten the village chief who had helped him.He decided to fly to Africa and check the safety of the village chief who seemed to have become his only true relative.When he arrived in Africa ,Tatadzei bought a range rover for the village chief and employed a driver to chauffer the oldman.He even opened a supermarket for the village chief.
The village chief requested Tatadzei to escort him somewhere and he accepted.The village chief gave directions until they saw some house which was about to fall on its own.When he got off the car he was greeted by a stench like that of a carcass and flies hovering around as if there was a party for them.He heard a frail voice from inside the house and decided to go and see who it was.He was taken aback to see Uncle Mosinyi and three of his children lying lifelessly like a skeleton.They were all dying from cholera ,themother and the daughter had passed on a week earlier.Tatadzei sighed andfainted.When he woke up he wanted to attack Uncle Mosinyi for what he had done to him.This was the man who had plundered his father’s wealth denied him a penny from it.His wound of anger and bitterness became fresh and he wept uncontrollably like a child lost at the market.After minutes of crying he went back into the car and became stone cold,no trace of emotion,anger or hate.He just wanted to leave the place and let these heartless relatives perish for what they had done to him.They had failed to run his parents’ business until it was taken over by messengers of court ,the messenger of court took everything including the bed and even clothes, thank God , at least its illegal to confisticate people otherwise they would not have survived. So they just came to the village with nothing except clothes they were wearing.All his children had failed school resulting in some of them becoming thieves ,gangsters and murderers.
When they were leaving in the car there was deafening silence, suddenly Tatadzei instructed the driver to turn back.Tatadzei would not have been arrested by police if he had gone leaving those relatives to die.He adopted the spirit of compromise,and believe me its difficult to compromise with a person who has persecuted you before.Tatadzei saved lives and relatives because of the compromise.If he has neglected his relatives the whole community were going to label him a wicked witch, possibly bring a curse upon his life and history was not going to forgive him.
Compromise is painful,but practical and definitely bring results.An example is South Africa,Mandela compromised that’s why we are going to attend world Cup,that’s why Mr Zuma(Msholozi) is President today,that is why all national Televisions in the world are featuring South Africa for confederation games.If he had not done that Umkonto WeSizwe could still be running in the bushes and ditches brushing with snakes ,lizards and all the filth of the bush.I was told by comrades who fought the liberation struggle in Zimbabwe that there is no Nandos and peri-peri ,no dates except with bullets and bombs(zvimbambaira),no comfortable beds,no air condition….the list is endless.We have seen nations of hardliners involved in unending wars .I was born knowing there was conflict in Somalia and now I am old,but there is still fighting.There have not done anything for their nation except to bring more pain and starvation.They are millions of Somalian refugees in almost every nation in Africa.I am sorry to use Somalia,but it’s a fact that there are where they are because they don’t want to compromise.This is the same situation in DRC,if you can’t compromise you are guaranteed of exterminating each other until there is no-one in the land except dead decaying bodies ,vultures and hyenas.I want you to picture that country ,but I definitely don’t want to be part of that.
In Zimbabwe President Mugabe and Prime Minister Tsvangirai came together to avert a catastrophe in Zimbabwe.If Mr Tsvangirai had not done what Tatadzei did people were going to die from hunger and desease.I want the world to know that there are hardliners in both MDC and ZANU PF,those who are not interested in the welfare of the nation ,but want to see a perceived enemy who is actually a relative perish.I want the hardliners to know that they are the enemies of the nation.Such kind of people do not belong to our beautiful nation rather they belong to the seas with pirates.What was done by those Zimbabwean asylum seekers in UK to Prime Minister Tsvangirai was a non-event,it’s a sign of ungratefulness and lack of respect for that nation and their own leader.Those to me were only misguided hardliners who needs to respect elders.I think that these people have lost their manners as Africans because being invited as they were,there were always better avenues to channel their concerns.Even if you baths with expensive soaps that will not change who you are.Don’t forget that you used to eat rice and chicken and have new clothes on Christmas day.You really embarrassed us as a nation because Mr Tsvangirai was representing the interests of the nation not any political party and surely you should not be proud of what you did.Mr Tsvangirai should not be dettered by such selfish elements because the bigger struggle has already been won.Ever since the two fueding parties agreed to work together there is no going back and Zimbabwe has surely come out of the doldrums of uncertainity without any iota of doubt.
President Mugabe and Prime Minister Tsvangirai have given us hope as a nation.We appreciate that there are hardliners in both MDC and ZANU PF,but my advise to you gentlemen is ignore them and do what is right.I want to congratulate you gentlemen for averting a Somalia situation in our nation.If you remain resolute and true to the cause a beautiful Zimbabwe hardliners have no place in Zimbabwe and history.Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai should climb the highest mountain in Zimbabwe ,order coffee from there and look at the vast plains and lands of Zimbabwe and say what should we do for our people because they have suffered a lot.Crack jokes and laugh a laughter that will reverberate in the whole nation of Zimbabwe and the country will be one again,rain will begin to pour freely to the earth and give life to the dry ,thirsty land.Your attitudes towards each other is a temperature gauge for the national behavior.So far genuine patriotic Zimbabweans are happy with the way you are resolving differences.Keep that respect for each other and definitely we will be the most proud generation of the time.Prime Minister Tsvangirai’s life and experiences has taught me a great lesson on compromise and forgiveness and I hope we will all learn something and make a better future for our children without hate,bitterness and revenge.President Mugabe himself compromised a lot after 1980,so compromise is the key to a better Zimbabwe.Brothers and sisters do not loose hope Zimbabwe will rise again,this time better than ever and I will surely be there to celebrate with you.
Simbarashe Chirimubwe is the President of Concerned Africans Association(CAA) and Global Zimbabwe Forum Coordinator for Africa.
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