There was a ceremony organized by Mutumwa, because the drought was keeping on. And that was in 1984.
For three or four years, people did not have enough rain. In 1980 we had enough rain, and in 1981 it was enough. But then the drought started in 1982. And in ’83, ’84, ’85, it was difficult. We had almost a continuous drought.
We went to his home and we played mbira in an open space where the sun shone. There were no clouds, and there was no shade. He said, “Sit there. If you want rain, sit and play mbira there.” And we sat down and played mbira there. We played mbira until he said, “Okay, you can stop.”
There were four people there, including him. And he said, “Now we will sing for rain.” They were singing their church songs. You know, we can say they were Christian songs, but the words were not relating to Christianity. They were singing “Zadzai Hova Nemvura.”
Zadzai hova nemvura Fill the streams with water
Zadzai hova nemvura Fill the streams with water
Zadzai hova nemvura Fill the streams with water
Zadzai hova nemvura Fill the streams with waterZadzai hova nemvura Fill the streams with water
Nyika nyika nemvura The entire nation, with water
Nyika nyika nemvura The entire nation, with water
Nyika nyika nemvura The entire nation, with water
Sekuru Chigamba sings “Zadzai Hova Nemvura”
Then he asked someone from the group to go and take a ladle. There was no water inside – he tipped it over, and nothing came out. So as they were singing, he was tipping the ladle. They did that four times. He tried to pour out water, but there was nothing inside. He tried again, and there was nothing. But the third time water came out, and the fourth time water came out again.
He said, “Now you will have rain.” And then we stopped, and the very same day, by three o’clock, the rain started to fall. So that’s when we believed that the rain had come. And then we came back to Harare.
Especially when we were living in Rushinga, sometimes we would see, “Ah, there’s no rain. Our crops are withering, so what should we do?” We used to sing “Zadzai Hova Nemvura.” And after a day or two, the rain would come.
Tute and Garadziva Chigamba, “Zadza Hova Nemvura,” from the album Tute and Garadziva Chigamba & Forward Kwenda: Gandanga (Mavembe) Tuning Mbira 12 April 1986
The next year, we did a ceremony at a hill which they call Haha. That was in 1985. At that ceremony Mutumwa said, “We are doing these prayers for everything. For rain, and to prevent diseases, and for everything what we need.”
At Haha, we played mbira for seven days. There was no time for me to eat breakfast in the morning. The women were cooking, and we were playing mbira. I was playing kutsinhira, because I was the only one who could play kutsinhira, and everyone else was playing kushaura. You know, I had to eat porridge while playing mbira.
We bought an ox, a big one, and it was a miracle! So many people came from the villages surrounding that hill. They were asked to bring their pots, and mealie meal. And the meat was there. And they were each given one piece of meat, but they didn’t finish that ox. They ate half of it, and we took the rest to Harare and shared it.
And Mutumwa said, “You people are the parents. Mugabe and his crew were the children. So can children go hunting? Do they brew beer to thank themselves? Or do you parents do that?” And people said, “Oh, parents must do that.” He said, “But why didn’t you do it for Mugabe and his crew, to thank them for that?” And people said, “Oh, it’s true, we didn’t do anything.”
So the spirit said, “Mugabe couldn’t do it by himself. And as you know, Mugabe is in the hands of the spirits. Yet he has nothing to take with him in his hand when he goes. Some presidents have small pieces of knobkerrie. And Kaunda used to take a hankie. Mugabe has nothing. He just walks. And he is protected by the spirits. Whenever Mugabe flies out of the country we chose one spirit to take him and come back with him. Because you haven’t done anything for him.”
So people asked, “Why? What should we have done?” So the spirit said, “You were supposed to take a heifer.” At the first celebration we did there was supposed to be a heifer offered to Ambuya Nehanda, because that is the spirit who said, “My bones will wake up again and fight.” So we had to offer a black heifer to the spirit Ambuya Nehanda, before we kill any other cows. And nobody did that.
And from there, people were also supposed to go to a hill in Centenary. The hill is Nhova, they call it Nhova Yenyika. People were supposed to go there, and bring a mat where the president was supposed to sit. And that rock would open, and he would be given rules there, by the spirits. And that’s where he was going to be given a knobkerrie, or something else to take with him. But nobody did that.
And from there the president was supposed to buy a small lamb. And that spirit was supposed to burn it. So the smoke that went up was going to report to God that Zimbabwe is now in the hands of its people. So that was the last thing, and nobody did that.
So at Haha, that is when he talked about Mugabe, and what people should do, that they were supposed to do the ceremony at the rock there, and they didn’t do. And from there I said, “My dreams were right, because we are starving. We forgot. We’re starving.” So we’re still hung up, because nothing has been done. And that’s what happened in the war.