Mutumwa is a name that refers to a spirit sent by God. So people were asking, “What is he called? What shall we say?” They said, “We shall call him Mutumwa, the Messenger.” Then he was simply called Mutumwa, because he is a messenger. Yes, whatever he is meant to do simply comes about, although he himself remains unaware. It is the spirit that will be speaking, and delivering the message to people.
When he is sent – let’s say he is sent to come here. He comes, traveling by foot. He arrives here, and sits down. We converse with him, and then he says, “Now I am leaving.” We say, “Already?” He says, “I was simply sent to step foot here, nothing more.” That is all he will have been sent to do.
Once, he was sent to an Apostolic gathering. He was sent to say, “There is a cyclone coming.” That very strong wind, which can carry off everything. So then he arrived, and said, “I have been sent to conduct a rite here, for a cyclone is coming.”
They replied, “No. We don’t engage in Madzimbahwe rites, we follow Jesus.” He said, “Fine. I pray to Ambuya Nehanda, but I was sent here to conduct a rite so that your affairs will proceed smoothly.”
As soon as he left, the wind started. They ran after him. He said, “No. Tell Jesus to stop the wind.” Then he left! The wind carried away all of the musasa trees they had there. They were all carried off, all of these musasa trees were decimated. He said, “That is why I was sent. I was sent to conduct a rite on your behalf, but you replied that you only pray to Jesus.”
So he also performs miracles, like those performed by Jesus. Those things we hear about in the Bible, that is what he does. Let’s say he is sitting right over there, and you are here, playing music that sounds very good. You won’t see him as he comes over. You only notice him once he is already here, dancing. And you won’t see him as he returns to his place. You only notice once he is seated again, as he was initially. You will say, “How did he do it? Yet he is elderly.”
In church, if they are really singing, that type of singing that is so exciting, he will rise up, and circle about in the air. Right above you, as you are singing, he will be circling around in the air. He returns, and descends, and sits down where he was sitting initially, right before your eyes.
One day, there was a political rally at Dambatsoko in Chiweshe, just past Nzvimbo. So, it was a ZANU-PF rally, and it was just getting started. Then he came, and he said, “I have been sent to say that while President is coming, there is someone in the crowd with a gun.”
Then they sent the police to detain that person in the crowd, and interrogate him. And once they detained him, they saw that he had revolver in his pocket. As soon as they had detained him, that is when the President’s helicopter landed, and he arrived at the rally. It is terrifying to think about.
We went to Chimbikiza, to Chiburi, and spent the week together there. He came holding his spear in his hand, and upon arriving, he thrust into a slab of granite. Then he sat down, leaning on the spear that he had stuck into the rock.
There is yet another thing, which I haven’t yet managed to understand. He has pegs carved from muzhanje wood, and he can strike them upon any stone, and they penetrate into the rock.
Even right here, if he is sent to drive those pegs in, he will do so. He doesn’t seek to carve a hole for them, nothing like that. He simply takes his pegs and strikes with them, driving them in and leaving them there. They will stay there for who knows how long, just like that. So some people were calling him Svingarehoko, or “Bundle of pegs,” because he always brings along a bundle of those pegs. He will be carrying them so that whenever he is told, “Go and strike the pegs,” he will drive them in immediately, right there.
When this country was still called Rhodesia, there was a statue of Rhodes in Third Street. He drove his pegs into it, circling it all round and driving in the pegs. There were soldiers sitting there, because they said people might destroy that statue. So they never left it unattended, they were always sitting there guarding it. But the soldiers didn’t see him.
He arrived behind of the soldiers, and circled all the way around. When he got there, he prayed right behind the soldiers. Once he had finished praying he crossed in and drove in pegs as he circled around. Then he came back out, and he left. The soldiers didn’t even see that someone had crossed in. He traveled all throughout Zimbabwe, driving pegs into every corner of Zimbabwe during the height of the war.
So the soldiers said, “We are seeing someone who travels carrying a walking stick, and wearing religious garments.” Ian Smith said, “What is this person like?” They said, “We can’t quite figure out what he is like.” He replied, “Take his picture.” Then they took his picture. So in that picture an angel appeared above. Two images appeared, although they had only photographed one person. But then an angel appeared above him.
Then they showed Smith, saying, “This is the person we are seeing.” He said, “Oh, this is Madonna! Whenever you see him, leave him as he is. Do not bother him.” From that moment, he was called Maidhona.
So I composed a song called “Tinovatenda.” So he heard me playing it, and then he came and seated himself as I played. Then I stopped playing. He said, “No, please play.” Then I played. He said, “What do you call that song?” I said, “I am simply playing what is coming into my head.” He said, “We want you to play that song for us in Domboshawa.”
“Tinovatenda,” performed by Tute Chigamba on the album Yangu Ndega
We spent three days at a rushanga shrine in Domboshawa. At the rushanga, a goat is killed and eaten. It isn’t brought home, or cooked at home. It is butchered, roasted, and eaten there at the shrine.
So then he said, “Play that song for me,” and I played it for him. He used to travel with young children, girls wearing religious garments. He was walking, approaching slowly as I played. A man named Zumba, or Asan, was playing hosho for me.
Then he approached, and he entered, and he arrived where there were three muhacha trees. Upon arriving, he walked around, and he looked up at the tree. Then he saw a stone tied to it. It had been tied there, hanging down. Then the mudzimu spirit came, and said, “Who tied this here?” But they didn’t discover who had tied it. Then he said, “Remove it,” and it was taken down.
Then he told me, “This song is a song for prayer. Whenever there is any type of prayer you wish to perform, play this song.” I said, “Oh, I have succeeded!” And all of my songs continued to prove successful.