2008 was terrible. People died, because there was nothing to eat. If you go into a shop, there was no mealie meal. You couldn’t find anything to eat. And people in the rural areas were eating only okra for three or four days in a row. People can not survive that. So people died. And they were saying cholera, but it wasn’t cholera. You know, people had nothing in their tummies, so they died.
Even for a Minister, there was nothing to do. There was no food. People who had money were going to South Africa, and bringing white mealie meal back from South Africa.
We had some food at home, because I used to buy food stores and keep them. But children don’t know how to take care of things. I told them, “You will get nothing more, otherwise you may die of hunger here.” And they thought I was joking.
Then one day I gave them some spaghetti, because there was nowhere to get mealie meal. So I gave them spaghetti, and they ate it. The next day, they ate only vegetables. And that’s when they said, “Oh, it’s true, it’s true! Sekuru was saying this, and it’s true.”
So the very next morning, I went to the College of Music. And coming from the College of Music I saw a store where they were selling mealie meal from South Africa. And I bought a twenty kg bag there and went home.
It was packed in a plastic bag. and it was saying the mealie meal was not for children under age twelve. They were not allowed to eat sadza made from that mealie meal. But you know, everyone ate it, even the littlest one.
And that was the year 2008. My brother lost his wife, and one of his sons. He sent his son to his wife’s parents to report that their daughter had died. And while his son was there he got sick, and he died.
My brother called us and said, “My wife died.” And I said, “Gift, let’s drive.” So we went in our little Nissan March. We bought forty kilos of mealie meal. And when we arrived there, people were happy to have the mealie meal! It shows that people were not eating anything.
We gave them the mealie meal and asked, “So, what happened?” They said, “Oh, we buried her.” We asked, “Oh, the very same day?” They said, “We are not allowed to keep anyone’s body even for a few hours. The very same moment one dies, people have to dig a hole and bury her.” We said, “Wow. Okay.”
Well, they were saying cholera. And for her son, too, they were saying the same thing. But it wasn’t cholera. Since people take a week with nothing in their tummy, what will happen? They die.
We slept there, and in the morning we drove back to Harare. So that’s what happened in 2008. It was terrible. I can say that people suffered the same in all of Zimbabwe. Even in Harare some people died, because there was nowhere to find food.
That’s when Minister Chinamasa said, “Please accept any currency. If it is US dollar, Rand, or Pula, it can work in Zimbabwe.” And in a few months the shops were full of food. So that helped people. Anywhere you went there was food, and people who had money could buy mealie meal anywhere. And because there was food, people forgot how much they suffered in 2008.
So that’s when I said, “Oh yes, this is what Chaminuka said, “You shall suffer.'” And I wrote a letter that I wanted to give to ZANU(PF), so that they would think about my dream.
What I think is that people should go to Chitungwiza, to the place where Chaminuka was staying. They should go there and do a ceremony, just a ceremony. Even the Ministers should go there, and the President. He should spend the day there, taking off his shoes and sitting down while people dance. If he can, he should also dance.
I want them to be there to do the ceremony so that people will get land. And people should also get rain, and their crops should be blessed. And all diseases, and everything will be put into the hands of Chaminuka.
So you tell those people, but they don’t understand. You know, it’s hard. You get into protocol – you have to go to this one, and this one, and this one. And you come back again, and you come to this Ministry, and you go again to this one. It takes time. If at all they could understand what I tell them they would organize, and go and do it.
But since Mutumwa has died, I don’t know who can take over his place to go and make the offering there. They have to go and offer words to Chaminuka. We need a spirit like Mutumwa. He’s supposed to be there to do that. And then things will go well.
You know, it’s hard to think about it. When white people came, they were brought in by Chaminuka. Because our chiefs no longer understood what the spirit was, and people were fighting each other. So he said, “I will bring you these white people without knees. And they will bring a rolling stone.” Yes, a rolling stone, which is the train. And white people without knees, which is white people with long pants. “So those are the people. They will come, and that’s when your chieftainship will dissolve.”
And Chingururu didn’t want to listen to that. What he wanted is to kill the body of the medium, Pasipamire. So, he killed him. And, after some years the white people came, and they took over the place. And then Chingururu wasn’t a king. And all the chiefs were given their roles, but they had no powers. They were given the powers by those white people.
So, now that we are free, we should have gone back to Chaminuka – he’s the one who brought these people – and said, “Please, we know these people did a lot for us. And now we are ruling this country. Let them in, and be our friends, since some have stayed for quite a long time, and some were born here, and they have nowhere to go, and we will stay together with them.”