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Contesting the politics of identity
Tapera Kapuya
October 11, 2010

A few months ago, scholar-adventurer Tudor Parfitt announced the discovery of an important historic artifact, Ngoma Lungundi, believed to be a replica of the Ark of the Covenant. The discovery brought attention on one of the smallest ethnic groups in the country, the vaRemba/vaMwenyi people whose cultural practices mirror some of those of the Old Testament. In an instance, what has been for years a reclusive group became prominent as part of its spiritual and cultural history came to the fore. In a country long depressed by strife and looking for all manner of escapism, evidence of divinity amongst it was immediately embraced. The 'lost tribe of Israel- was amongst them, came proclamations from politicians, artists, religious and traditional leaders.

I should state from the beginning that I am a descendant of the vaRemba. My family tree is the Madzingira. We are found settled largely in the Buhera and Wedza districts with new settlements emerging in Muzarabani. There is inconclusive debate on our roots. One school of thought argues we are Jewish, another holds that we are Arabs and yet another view is that we are Bantus assimilated by either of the two immigrant groups. That said, there is also a trend: despite the emphasis on intra ethnic marriages, our people nonetheless settled amongst and even married non-vaRembas. For this certain rituals would be done to assimilate those who married vaRembas - both men and women.

A common narrative in our own oral history is that we are immigrants to this country. I would even go to being more brutal: our first contact with Southern Africa, and indeed Zimbabwe - should this history be correct - was motivated by trade. Economic imperatives more than anything else defined our historic permanent settlements. With trade arrangements more secure and rapidly growing, some decided to establish trading stations closer to markets and transport networks, marking the vaRemba 'settlerism-. The vaRembas would bring clothes and leave with ivory and gold. The trade relations if looked with today-s eyes would seem unfair, very unfair. But this is far from the conditions of those days: the local population seemed not to have much need for, or utility of, ivory and gold.

The vaRemba would later be pushed inward from the shores of Mozambique into eastern and central Zimbabwe by increasing competition, in particular from the Portuguese. This is what explains our history. But ours is not an isolated history. Many of our fellow citizens have their own peculiar stories to tell, with varying degrees of regrettable episodes in their relations with others - often defined by wars, pillage and plunder. The Matebeles running away from Shaka-s Mfecane found home in the Western part of our country; the Kalanga-s settled from the lands of the Tswanas and; European settlers being the latest mass arrival. Each and every one of us can trace their roots in this land we now call Zimbabwe and home from somewhere more distant. Zimbabwe is a confluence of settlers some who came earlier and other more recent than others. There is non who can claim right by origin without setting an arbitrary, self-serving date marks on when they came in or when the cut-off for migration was.

Unfortunately, this history littered with conflict and tension seems to have become more transfixed by race and identity. It ignores the critical fact that the initial point of contact between most settler groups has not been as harmonious - often marked by physical confrontation and exploitation of one by another. This is the reason why all our history tends to celebrate conquest and militarism - whether its the Rozvi, Mutapa, Matebele, British or my very own Remba group. The challenge over the years, including what defined the common theme of our liberation struggles, was how to establish a common nation for all who, for whatever reason, sort Zimbabwe as home. This challenge remains important today, for let-s agree, none of us can claim greater ownership of this country than the other. The premise of initial settlement is a fault-line and can not stand any objective test.

In the past years, a result directly of state failure, we have seen identity being raised to define who is included or excluded from being Zimbabwean. Not accepting its failures to provide a responsible and responsive government that would address the multiple challenges facing our people, Zanu PF government resorted to exciting people-s raw emotions and manipulated historic memory. It has carried forward the same dangerous traits of past governments - colonial and pre-colonial. In the early years, the target was the Matebeles, in a campaign that arguably had the tacit apologies from non-Matebele citizens . Even today, in what is supposed to be a consolidated nation, ethnic tensions over historic wars remain: the Shonas angry with the Matebeles wars of centuries ago, Matebeles over massacres of decades ago; Shona and Matebeles ganging up against white Zimbabweans for violations of the yesteryears. Within these broad groups there are also tensions: the Kalangas and Tswanas not too happy with their forced assimilation into the Matebele, the intra-Shona suspicions which set the Karanga, Zezurus,, Korekores, Manyikas and whoever else against the other, and indeed amongst whites remain the undertones of British and Afrikaans descendants poking stares. Zimbabweans of Indian, Asian and mixed race descendancy are all held on a fringe.

The past decade in particular has seen state driven racist extremism. Starting with the narrative of land reform, which in itself was based on the 'white- Zimbabwe as having a dubious entitlement to Zimbabwe and defining a genuine Zimbabwean as being black, this state driven proposition has worked to undermine national cohesion and sow suspicion amongst our citizens. Racial vengeance is passed for national reform. Effectively we have seen non black Zimbabwean effectively excluded from full participation in national affairs in their own right as citizens, with this cancer filtering even to the democracy movement. Non-black Zimbabweans have to explain themselves, if not, adopt to the blackmail and silence. Asian Zimbabweans have already been erased from national space and so are Zimbabweans of mixed race.

Drawing from my own heritage and knowing that the only cover I have for not having my standing as a Zimbabwean questioned is nothing more than the colour of my skin, I dread to imagine our future as a nation if we allow ourselves to be cowed into identity cleavages and made guilty in affirming our full citizenship. We are even becoming blinded from seeing what each of our heritages has contributed to modern day Zimbabwe or even from questioning what our status would be if we were to subtract one group from this history. This should not be done at moments of opportunism, but should be the narrative for constructing a cohesive and proud nation. We have to shun the narrowness of the politics that past leaders and governments have set for us. In particular, we have to move past the confines of identity, race, ethnicity, religious or gender and sexuality, and embrace our common ownership of this beautiful country of ours. It belongs to all of us - in equal measure and obligation. This is the template on which our fortunes as a nation lie: our uncontested right to freedom and dignity in this unique country of such beautiful diversity.

*Tapera Kapuya writes in his personal capacity. He can be reached at kapuyat@gmail.com

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