But he is no ordinary lion such as tourists might buy; this lion came from Tengenenge, the place where Shona sculpture as we know it today developed over the last sixty or so years. My lion is a spirit lion, a representation in stone of the Shona belief that when a chief or important personage dies his spirit takes the form of a young lion or mhondoro . Lion spirits are associated with strength and fearlessness, they are the guardians of the people and would never hurt anyone unless they are provoked. Indeed, people believed that if you chanced to meet a lion, the one way you could be sure he was a genuine mhondoro was if he simply passed you by.
I was reminded of this traditional Shona belief this week when I saw in The Zimbabwean a picture of Headman Rwisai Nyakauru who has just been released from three weeks detention after being arrested along with MP Douglas Mwonzoro for attending the MPs MDC rally. The face of this 82 year-old man, a Headman from the Nyanga district, symbolises all that is best in Zimbabwe. There was humour, intelligence, humility, wisdom and above all humanity, something we see too little of in these troubled times in Zimbabwe. In gaol the old man had been tortured but still he could smile at the world while all around him his own countrymen and women commit unspeakable acts of depravity in the name of political survival for a party and a man who is already older than Headman Nyakauru. Surely, when the Headman passes on to the world of the ancestral spirits, we can be sure that his spirit will harm no one. He is indeed a lion of a man.
Emmerson Mnangagwa this week proclaimed that Robert Mugabe will rule forever, like an elephant. Elephants, its true live to a great age but are not, as far as I know, immortal! Mugabes intention appears to be to survive at all costs, regardless of the harms he inflicts on the Zimbabwean people. I for one simply do not accept that he is no longer in control; I believe he knows very well what is going on. He has only to give the nod and his willing accomplices, the police, the army and the militia, will put his hints into deadly action. What sort of man, a father and a former teacher at that, can allow his thugs to enter schools and force children to sign his nonsensical Anti-Sanctions Petition? While he thunders at his docile followers that Zimbabwe will take over foreign businesses, Mugabe appears oblivious of the fact that such remarks successfully halt any possibility of investment. And what sort of man feels it necessary to remind the world that Zimbabwe is the Senior Partner? It certainly suggests that Robert Mugabe is suffering from a bad case of mono-mania, rather like his good friend Gadaffi who, Zimbabeans will remember, strode into Zimbabwe over the Victoria Falls Bridge like some conquering hero. Remember, the Libyan dictator once had African ambitions until the AU for once put its foot down. The AU has joined the wests condemnation of Gadaffi but remain silent as their African brother destroys what was once the jewel of Africa. Do we hear a word from the South Africans as Mugabes regime re-arrests Elton Mangoma and threatens the Prime Minister of the country with arrest for contempt of court for saying what the whole country knows to be true: that the judiciary has been bought off with farms and other rewards for their compliance.
But there was one small victory for truth this week. Despite Zanus desperate attempts, not excluding bribery and dirty tricks, Lovemore Moyo was re-elected as Speaker of the House by 105 to 93 votes. In a wonderful example of honesty and integrity, MDC MPs handed over the thousands of dollars that they had been offered to vote against Moyo or to abstain. All is not lost while there are still honest men and women to give public testimony to human decency in Zimbabwe. Perhaps, after all, the spirit of mhondoro is indeed protecting worthy people?
Yours in the (continuing) struggle PH. aka Pauline Henson author of the Dube books of which the latest, Samis Story is available on Lulu.com
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