It is indeed a justified argument to postulate that African Traditional Religion played an important role in the Zimbabwe’s war of liberation. This is because during the liberation struggle there was the revival of the traditional religion. This is because in the eastern part of Zimbabwe there was the influence of spirit mediums who supported the war by participating in the recruitment of the war guerrillas, the spirit mediums are said to have stimulated the revival of the African Religion during the war and in this sense they inspired, informed, gave directions to strategic operations as well unifying the rural community and the war fighters. David Lan, also believe in the fact that the spirit mediums worked closely with the war guerrillas during the struggle.1 Daneel also thinks that the mediums were more in control of the war of the war effort than the ZANLA and ZIPRA liberation war fighters. McLaughlin also cites a Marxist guerrilla as crediting the mediums with sound military strategy, human psychology and practical morality.2 In the south western part of Zimbabwe unlike in the eastern part there was the use of the Mwari Cult in Matopo Hills during the war .Ranger, Daneel. Chivaura, Bhebhe notes that the Mwari Cult established in the Matopo Hills played an important role during the liberation struggle. There were various shrines within the Matopo range and they noted that these shrines were consulted and invoked during the liberation struggle .The Mwari cult is said to have been influential in inspiring, guiding, protecting and mobilising the troops during the liberation struggle and was mainly used by the ZIPRA guerrillas. This is the place where Mwari was said to have manifested Himself and his voice was heard from a rock during the pre-colonial period and as such the war fighters consulted the shrines for protection and guidance during the war. In his biography in 1984 Nkomo unintentionally revealed about his visit to Dula shrine, one of the shrines of the Mwali cult were he consulted Mwali about the liberation struggle. Daneel argue that the Mwali cult was influential during the liberation struggle as were the Shona spirit mediums. However, even though it is justifiable to a larger extent to argue that the African Traditional Religion was very important during the liberation struggle some scholars believe that Christianity was also used by some guerrilla elites.
African Traditional religion played an important role in the liberation struggle because in the north-east of Zimbabwe the deliberate recruitment of the war fighters was made possible by the spirit mediums.3 It is important to note that when the ZANLA fighters arrived in the Dande area they discovered that the tradition of the spirit mediums Sekuru Kaguvi and Mbuya Nehanda some ancestral spirits who actively participated in the first liberation struggle of 1896-7 was still active in the 1970s.This was the time when the war fighters were entering the country from Mozambique. This new generation of spirit mediums was totally opposed to the oppressive government of Rhodesia and at the same time the peasants were removing their loyalty from the Chiefs who were seen as the puppets of the colonial government. ZANLA guerrillas who had always wanted to be united to the peasants were helped by the spirit mediums who acted as a unifying factor between the war guerrillas and the peasants .4Through the spirit mediums the peasants believed in the liberation war fighters and they also later worked with them. This was to some extent achieved because the guerrillas offered to return the land to its rightful owners through the spirit mediums to the peasants. With the help of the spirit mediums the mediums the war guerrillas were able to carry out their instructions, to politicize the masses, to cache the arms and to recruit would –be fighters in the Dande region.
Mbuya Nehanda was a spiritual figure who played a crucial role in the first liberation struggle. She operated in the Mazoe area and when she died her spirit went to different people during the colonial struggle. Thus in the Nehanda sector which covered Dande, Mazoe, Sipolilo and Centenary there were several mediums who emerged during the liberation struggle. These mediums were Chidyamauyu, Chiodzamamera, Chipeni, Mutota and Mbuya Nehanda whose real name was Nyamhita.5 These spirit mediums played a significant role in the recruitment of male and female war fighters. According to T.O Ranger and N.Bhebe a certain lady by the name Sarudzai Chinyamaropa who became a superitandant soon after independence at Ruwa Rehabilitation centre remembered about Sekuru Chipfeni who gave them a guide from the Mozambican border to Mavhuradonha along the Hoya River to look for routes and caves to hide their war materials in September 1972.6 This clearly shows that the spirit mediums guided the war fighters from their enemy which was an important role. In the year 1972 Chipfeni led the first ZANLA guerrillas to Chidyamauyu and Chiodzamamera who played an important role as they explained to the peasants that the war fighters were not strangers but were freedom fighters .They also informed the peasants that the combatants were not foreigners from Zambia and Mozambique as propagated by the colonial government but were freedom fighters with their interests at heart.
The African Traditional Religion was also important in Zimbabwe’s Liberation war because the spirit mediums in the north east of the country inspired the young women and men to go and join the ZANLA forces in Mozambique.7When the young people noted that the religious leaders were supporting the liberation struggle and the war combatants they were inspired to go and recruited in the ZANLA forces. In the Chaminuka sector there was a spirit medium whose real name was Respina Gwerevende.8 He worked closely with the war fighters in the Chesa and Gwetera areas which he gave instructions, snuff to send away evil spirits and protection as well as guiding the people. In some instances like in the Tete and Manica provinces the guerrillas were said to be obeying mediums than the ZANLA forces.9 In Gokwe area the Nevana spirit medium was active during the liberation struggle whereby the medium played a guiding role during Zimbabwe’s liberation war. During the war period the Nevana medium protected the combatants whilst operating in the war struggle. The tradition of the spirit mediums who had participated effectively in the first liberation struggle was still alive in the 1970s and the new generation of mediums was equally opposed to the Whites and their colonial oppressive system. Some war fighters were themselves possessed by ancestral spirits at the war front; some mediums integrated into guerrilla detachments. Basing on these facts it is indeed justifiable to argue that the African Traditional Religion played an important role in the liberation struggle.
In the South Western area there was the Mwari cult which was active during the liberation struggle. The guerrillas were associated with shrine priests who worked closely with them during the liberation struggle. Sitwanyana Ncube a shrine priest at Njelele shrine in Matopo Hills is a notable example who helped the ZIPRA guerrillas who usually visited the shrine. The reasons why they visited the shrine were to be blessed during the struggle, protected from the enemy, led and guided by Mwali. According to Mrs Lesabe, Nkomo visited the Dula shrine in the Matopos which was a war shrine hence it promised him protection in the war.10 According to her the ZIPRA armies become powerful after they had visited the shrine. According to Ranger Sitwanyana a shrine priest at Njelele prayed for the ZIPRA guerrillas at the shrine.11 This shows that the African Traditional Religion played an important role in the Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle. As war intensified in the south west the guerrillas paid attention not only to shrines but to spirits in general.
Ranger and Daneel strongly believe that the Mwali Cult played an influential role in the liberation struggle. According to Thenjiwe Lesabe quoted in L.S Nthoi who participated in the liberation struggle who was one of the combatants the Dula shrine in Matopos was asssociated with war. 12According to her the shrine’s association with war dates back to the 1896 rebelllions.She argue that it is on this shrine where the war was waged and where it was stopped and it was the same shrine whre Joshua Nkomo was promised divine protection and where the ZIPRA guerillas frequently visited to be given orders,strategies on how to wage the war as well as protection and guidance.According to Thenjiwe Lesabe during the liberation struggle another shrine shrine emerged at the Dula shrine known as the Red Axe .13 A certain man was called at the shrine so that he would be given power to wage war and as such people were instructed by him .This clearly shows the importance of religion in the liberation struggle.
In addition ,it seems that during the guerilla warfare the influence of the cult spread into or revived in Northern Matebeleland too even though much of the evidence shows that it was active in the Southern Matebeleland.Dumiso Dubengwa says that at sometime in the 1970s an emissary from the Njelele shrine established himself at Pu Pu in Lupane district ,close to the Shangani Memorial .14The ZIPRA forces established their base next to the shrine and they visited this place for blessings and endorsement.The revival of the of the Mwali Cult in northern Matebeleleland is also well documented by the research of Marieke Clarke .As she had shown that the Mwali shrine at Manyanga has become active for the frirst time since 1896.Daneel also notes that the people throughout the Masvingo Province visited the shrines during the liberation shrine inorder to be protected from the war effects.15In some ways for southern Matabeleland too, the most impressive evidence of the importance of the shrines during the war has been their significance in the 1980s.Jocelyn noted that before the war public and political use was never made of Njelele in the way that had made the difference.16 During the 1980s Joshua Nkomo conducted his rally at Njelele shrine and was even at making the shrine an international shrine.ZAPU formed a National Shrines Committee to ensure that the legitimate keepers were in place at the Mwali shrines .People continuously visited the shrine more .This shows that the African Traditional Religion played a crucial role in the liberation struggle.
However ,even though the African Traditional Religion played a magnificant role in the liberation struggle through mediums and the Mwali Cult it is important to highlight the fact that some war guerillas worked closely with the Chrisitian leaders.Daneel postulate the dominance of the mediums throughtout the war.McLaughlin’s argued that there was a shift from the mediums towards missions whilst David Maxwell argue that what determined relations was the state of popular religion in any particular area.The perception by some guerilla elites of the strength of popular Christianity caused them to take up Chrisitian idioms in order to mobilize support .In areas where the brokers of popular religion were Christian guerillas were forced to seek legitimacy from priests and Black pastors rather than spirit mediums.
In conclusion ,the African Traditonal religion played an important role in the influencing war guerillas in the liberation struggle.Spirit mediums become important figures in mobolising the troops as well as guiding them.They also acted as the unifying factor between the war fighters and the people in Zimbabwe.In the eastern part of the country there were spirit mediums who worked closely with the war fighters whilst in the southwest was the Mwari cult which became influenctial .The Cult became important as it inspired,guided,protected and sanctioned the liberation struggle.Even though people have tried to brought in some elements of Chrisitian missions as an active religion used by the freedom fighters the fact remains that African traditional Religion plays an important role in the liberation struggle as the combatants turned to the African religion for protection.In the Southern Matabeleland the shrine priests worked closely with the guerilla war fighters hence to a larger extent the African Traditional Religion played an important role in Zimbabwe’s Liberation War.
REFERENCE LIST
Bhebe N and Ranger T.Soldiers in Zimbabwe’s Liberation War Volume One,University of Zimbabwe Publications,Harare,Zimbabwe
Bhebe N and Ranger T.Society in Zimbabwe’s Liberation War,University of Zimbabwe Publications, 1996
Daneel M.The God of the Matopo Hills:An Essay on the Mwari Cult in Rhodesia,Mouton The Hague 1970
Lan D .Guns and Rain;Guerillas and Spirit Mediums in Zimbabwe,James Currey Harare ,Zimbabwe,1985
McLaughlin , J’Taking Sides ,A Case Study of St Pauls ‘s Mission Musami 1989
Nthoi,L.S .A God of War or Peace,Alternation Special Edition 2005
Ranger T.O The voices from the Rocks: Nature, Culture and History in the Matopos Hills of Zimbabwe, Indiana University Press, Harare, Baobab, 1999
African Traditional religion played an important role in the liberation struggle because in the north-east of Zimbabwe the deliberate recruitment of the war fighters was made possible by the spirit mediums.3 It is important to note that when the ZANLA fighters arrived in the Dande area they discovered that the tradition of the spirit mediums Sekuru Kaguvi and Mbuya Nehanda some ancestral spirits who actively participated in the first liberation struggle of 1896-7 was still active in the 1970s.This was the time when the war fighters were entering the country from Mozambique. This new generation of spirit mediums was totally opposed to the oppressive government of Rhodesia and at the same time the peasants were removing their loyalty from the Chiefs who were seen as the puppets of the colonial government. ZANLA guerrillas who had always wanted to be united to the peasants were helped by the spirit mediums who acted as a unifying factor between the war guerrillas and the peasants .4Through the spirit mediums the peasants believed in the liberation war fighters and they also later worked with them. This was to some extent achieved because the guerrillas offered to return the land to its rightful owners through the spirit mediums to the peasants. With the help of the spirit mediums the mediums the war guerrillas were able to carry out their instructions, to politicize the masses, to cache the arms and to recruit would –be fighters in the Dande region.
Mbuya Nehanda was a spiritual figure who played a crucial role in the first liberation struggle. She operated in the Mazoe area and when she died her spirit went to different people during the colonial struggle. Thus in the Nehanda sector which covered Dande, Mazoe, Sipolilo and Centenary there were several mediums who emerged during the liberation struggle. These mediums were Chidyamauyu, Chiodzamamera, Chipeni, Mutota and Mbuya Nehanda whose real name was Nyamhita.5 These spirit mediums played a significant role in the recruitment of male and female war fighters. According to T.O Ranger and N.Bhebe a certain lady by the name Sarudzai Chinyamaropa who became a superitandant soon after independence at Ruwa Rehabilitation centre remembered about Sekuru Chipfeni who gave them a guide from the Mozambican border to Mavhuradonha along the Hoya River to look for routes and caves to hide their war materials in September 1972.6 This clearly shows that the spirit mediums guided the war fighters from their enemy which was an important role. In the year 1972 Chipfeni led the first ZANLA guerrillas to Chidyamauyu and Chiodzamamera who played an important role as they explained to the peasants that the war fighters were not strangers but were freedom fighters .They also informed the peasants that the combatants were not foreigners from Zambia and Mozambique as propagated by the colonial government but were freedom fighters with their interests at heart.
The African Traditional Religion was also important in Zimbabwe’s Liberation war because the spirit mediums in the north east of the country inspired the young women and men to go and join the ZANLA forces in Mozambique.7When the young people noted that the religious leaders were supporting the liberation struggle and the war combatants they were inspired to go and recruited in the ZANLA forces. In the Chaminuka sector there was a spirit medium whose real name was Respina Gwerevende.8 He worked closely with the war fighters in the Chesa and Gwetera areas which he gave instructions, snuff to send away evil spirits and protection as well as guiding the people. In some instances like in the Tete and Manica provinces the guerrillas were said to be obeying mediums than the ZANLA forces.9 In Gokwe area the Nevana spirit medium was active during the liberation struggle whereby the medium played a guiding role during Zimbabwe’s liberation war. During the war period the Nevana medium protected the combatants whilst operating in the war struggle. The tradition of the spirit mediums who had participated effectively in the first liberation struggle was still alive in the 1970s and the new generation of mediums was equally opposed to the Whites and their colonial oppressive system. Some war fighters were themselves possessed by ancestral spirits at the war front; some mediums integrated into guerrilla detachments. Basing on these facts it is indeed justifiable to argue that the African Traditional Religion played an important role in the liberation struggle.
In the South Western area there was the Mwari cult which was active during the liberation struggle. The guerrillas were associated with shrine priests who worked closely with them during the liberation struggle. Sitwanyana Ncube a shrine priest at Njelele shrine in Matopo Hills is a notable example who helped the ZIPRA guerrillas who usually visited the shrine. The reasons why they visited the shrine were to be blessed during the struggle, protected from the enemy, led and guided by Mwali. According to Mrs Lesabe, Nkomo visited the Dula shrine in the Matopos which was a war shrine hence it promised him protection in the war.10 According to her the ZIPRA armies become powerful after they had visited the shrine. According to Ranger Sitwanyana a shrine priest at Njelele prayed for the ZIPRA guerrillas at the shrine.11 This shows that the African Traditional Religion played an important role in the Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle. As war intensified in the south west the guerrillas paid attention not only to shrines but to spirits in general.
Ranger and Daneel strongly believe that the Mwali Cult played an influential role in the liberation struggle. According to Thenjiwe Lesabe quoted in L.S Nthoi who participated in the liberation struggle who was one of the combatants the Dula shrine in Matopos was asssociated with war. 12According to her the shrine’s association with war dates back to the 1896 rebelllions.She argue that it is on this shrine where the war was waged and where it was stopped and it was the same shrine whre Joshua Nkomo was promised divine protection and where the ZIPRA guerillas frequently visited to be given orders,strategies on how to wage the war as well as protection and guidance.According to Thenjiwe Lesabe during the liberation struggle another shrine shrine emerged at the Dula shrine known as the Red Axe .13 A certain man was called at the shrine so that he would be given power to wage war and as such people were instructed by him .This clearly shows the importance of religion in the liberation struggle.
In addition ,it seems that during the guerilla warfare the influence of the cult spread into or revived in Northern Matebeleland too even though much of the evidence shows that it was active in the Southern Matebeleland.Dumiso Dubengwa says that at sometime in the 1970s an emissary from the Njelele shrine established himself at Pu Pu in Lupane district ,close to the Shangani Memorial .14The ZIPRA forces established their base next to the shrine and they visited this place for blessings and endorsement.The revival of the of the Mwali Cult in northern Matebeleleland is also well documented by the research of Marieke Clarke .As she had shown that the Mwali shrine at Manyanga has become active for the frirst time since 1896.Daneel also notes that the people throughout the Masvingo Province visited the shrines during the liberation shrine inorder to be protected from the war effects.15In some ways for southern Matabeleland too, the most impressive evidence of the importance of the shrines during the war has been their significance in the 1980s.Jocelyn noted that before the war public and political use was never made of Njelele in the way that had made the difference.16 During the 1980s Joshua Nkomo conducted his rally at Njelele shrine and was even at making the shrine an international shrine.ZAPU formed a National Shrines Committee to ensure that the legitimate keepers were in place at the Mwali shrines .People continuously visited the shrine more .This shows that the African Traditional Religion played a crucial role in the liberation struggle.
However ,even though the African Traditional Religion played a magnificant role in the liberation struggle through mediums and the Mwali Cult it is important to highlight the fact that some war guerillas worked closely with the Chrisitian leaders.Daneel postulate the dominance of the mediums throughtout the war.McLaughlin’s argued that there was a shift from the mediums towards missions whilst David Maxwell argue that what determined relations was the state of popular religion in any particular area.The perception by some guerilla elites of the strength of popular Christianity caused them to take up Chrisitian idioms in order to mobilize support .In areas where the brokers of popular religion were Christian guerillas were forced to seek legitimacy from priests and Black pastors rather than spirit mediums.
In conclusion ,the African Traditonal religion played an important role in the influencing war guerillas in the liberation struggle.Spirit mediums become important figures in mobolising the troops as well as guiding them.They also acted as the unifying factor between the war fighters and the people in Zimbabwe.In the eastern part of the country there were spirit mediums who worked closely with the war fighters whilst in the southwest was the Mwari cult which became influenctial .The Cult became important as it inspired,guided,protected and sanctioned the liberation struggle.Even though people have tried to brought in some elements of Chrisitian missions as an active religion used by the freedom fighters the fact remains that African traditional Religion plays an important role in the liberation struggle as the combatants turned to the African religion for protection.In the Southern Matabeleland the shrine priests worked closely with the guerilla war fighters hence to a larger extent the African Traditional Religion played an important role in Zimbabwe’s Liberation War.
REFERENCE LIST
Bhebe N and Ranger T.Soldiers in Zimbabwe’s Liberation War Volume One,University of Zimbabwe Publications,Harare,Zimbabwe
Bhebe N and Ranger T.Society in Zimbabwe’s Liberation War,University of Zimbabwe Publications, 1996
Daneel M.The God of the Matopo Hills:An Essay on the Mwari Cult in Rhodesia,Mouton The Hague 1970
Lan D .Guns and Rain;Guerillas and Spirit Mediums in Zimbabwe,James Currey Harare ,Zimbabwe,1985
McLaughlin , J’Taking Sides ,A Case Study of St Pauls ‘s Mission Musami 1989
Nthoi,L.S .A God of War or Peace,Alternation Special Edition 2005
Ranger T.O The voices from the Rocks: Nature, Culture and History in the Matopos Hills of Zimbabwe, Indiana University Press, Harare, Baobab, 1999
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