Chingonos contribution to literature

His stories in Not Another Day (Weaver Press, 2006) are imbued with a clarity of language that achieves its intended effect upon the reader – realizing humour in certain sad human conditions. Election violence, political hypocrisy, culture distortions, HIV and AIDS, child sexual abuse, etc, have rocked contemporary Zimbabwe and Chingono has dealt with these issues superbly in this collection of 10 short stories and 27 poems.

As Zimbabwe currently seeks international solidarity to hasten her economic recovery, it is worthwhile to question our own innocence and fairness when this solidarity comes in the form of aid. What is intended for the masses usually finds its way into the hands of a few in high echelons of power, or those connected to the political masters of that time. Beneficiaries are chosen on the basis of their political affiliation.

This situation is clearly illustrated in the story An Early Supper where a donation is made to the community to assist it fight the HIV and AIDS scourge. Publicity-hungry Minister of Health, Chipikiri, delivers a speech at the donation ceremony. But afterwards his words do not serve any purpose at all as he lures and attempts to rape one of his party cadres daughters in his office.

A group of four social workers in the short story Tomorrow is Not Another Day discover that they have done nothing while an orphan named Fungai, aged nine, dies of sexual abuse in the home of her abuser (vaHove). Orphans Fungai and her brother Masimba have been dependent upon the organisation represented by the four social workers and yet their condition seemed to have worsened. Are we Together expresses the hooliganism that was tied to fetishist politics. In the story youths are provided with beer at rallies as payment for unleashing violence upon innocent people. Are-we-together becomes the name of a beer-guzzling militia man.

Buried amidst controversy
Universally, funerals are held in awe of the deceased and yet in some cultures the traditional conduct of funerals has changed due to modern influences. The deceased are buried amid controversies. Even in Western countries we have heard of arguments over estates, custody of children, etc. In Chingonos story Sister-in-Law, relatives of the deceased, Tarisai and Shuva, are two snobs who want to control their mothers funeral proceedings while at the same time harassing their sister-in-law Tracey who did all she could to be with their mother before she died.

Then the story entitled The Funeral depicts the disintegration of cultural values at such functions. Two camps emerge at the funeral with one arguing that the coffin carrying the deceased must be put in the big beautiful house bought for the deceased by her son, and the other arguing that, traditionally, the coffin with the deceased should lie in the kitchen. The pall-bearers are confused as relatives exchange bitter words. When the coffin does not seem to fit through the door of the big house, the sons gift for his late mother, they put it in the kitchen. But something happens when they are about to carry it out to the graveyard. The coffin, apparently manufactured by some unscrupulous coffin maker, breaks and the dead body falls out onto the ground.

In the story Sahwiras Condoms Muchena has been playing the traditional role of sahwira at funerals rocking a certain family. He learns that the successive deaths (including the present death) in this family are being caused by AIDS and he decides to strictly play his duty as sahwira in a way that leaves mourners astounded. He refuses to be silent as he openly speaks against wayward sexual behaviour, the main cause of AIDS. He decides to conduct a solo AIDS awareness campaign right at the funeral by distributing condoms to the mourners.

Chingono was born at a commercial farm in 1946 to the east of Harare which is now an industrial hub of the city Msasa. An asphalt company is doing business where Chingono was born and where his family huts stood in the late forties after WWII.

Second generation writer
Chingono is a second generation writer who witnessed and endured the bitter political events of the 60s and 70s. He went to Mabvuku School for his primary education, but it was at Nyatsime College where he came across Nzvengamutsvairo by Bernard Chidzero. Just the sight of the picture of Chidzero at the back of the book inspired Chingono to pursue his education vigorously. He later read Patrick Chakaipas Karikoga Gumi Remiseve, Kenneth Bepswas Ndakamuda Dakara Afa and a host of other books by early Shona writers. His first Shona novel Chipo Changu co-published in 1978 by the Literature Bureau and Longman Zimbabwe is not found in book shops and this, allied with some other factors, could explain why Chingono is not so popular in his own country.

His play Ruvimbo (1980) won second prize in a writing competition organized by the Literature Bureau in 1975. It stands out as one of the best works of fiction Chingono has ever written. The play exposes how culture and social status affect a persons response to disability. Ngoni Tichafa, a radio journalist born in a well-to-do family, is at crossroads with his family for deciding to marry disabled Ruvimbo, a talented poet. In some societies, physical deformities used to be and/or are still associated with certain superstitions and are considered as spiritual curses.

In 2001 Musa Publications published another collection of his poetry called Kazwi with illustrations to the poems done by Hassan Musa. In 2004 he attended the Poetry International Festival in Rotterdam, Netherlands where he participated in poetry readings and workshops. He was involved in discussions on the poetry of Pablo Neruda and the poetic verses of the Bible. He also attended a writers conference at the University of Port Elizabeth where he presented a paper on Zimbabwe Writing and Publishing. With all this experience, Chingono, an experienced miner as well, stands out as one of Zimbabwean writers and poets who has stood the test of time.