The ancestors, violence and democracy in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Are the departed silent in their graves or do their voices influence the way we participate in politics? While in other places their voices could be less loud, it is not so in Zimbabwe. Using Terrence Ranger and Eric Hobsbawm’s theory regarding invention of traditions, this study explores the deployment of ancestral voices in Zimbabwean politics as a strategy to legitimise political power and social hierarchy. In Zimbabwe, each cycle of election is characterised by constant reminder concerning the voices of the departed, reminding the voters that their democratic exercise through elections must align with the wishes of the nation’s ancestors such as Nehanda, Kaguvi, Chamunika and Mwari – the national god. The study consists of three parts: the first part looks into the belief in ancestors, focusing on the ancestral hierarchical order; the second part explores how the spiritual world of the ancestors in terms of its hierarchy is reflected through the spatial arrangement at the village and household levels; and the last section looks into how Mugabe utilises the ideology concerning the ancestors to maintain political power.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: Through use of explanatory theories in religious studies and theology, this study unpacks the complexity of theorising politics and democracy within contexts in which the spiritual (in this case, ancestors or gods) takes precedence. After dialoguing and critiquing the current and dominant theories regarding religion across the continent, the article finds Terrence Ranger and Eric Hobsbawm’s theory regarding invented traditions the most plausible perspective to explain the interaction of religious canopies and political configurations in Zimbabwe.

The Nehanda mythology: Dialectics of gender, history and religion in Zimbabwean literature

“…Before she was sentenced to death by the colonial regime, Nehanda legendarily proclaimed that her bones would rise again to haunt her persecutors. It is claimed that her prophesy motivated the second Chimurenga that overthrew the white rule and ushered in independence in 1980 (Dube 2018). Mhlanga (2013) asserts that during the nationalist movements in the 20th century, Nehanda came to be a central political and symbolic figure.…”

“…Furthermore, Nehanda signifies a religious dimension in Zimbabwe that is African Traditional Religion (ATR), because of the role she played as an esteemed spirit medium among her people. Being a spirit medium of the renowned rain goddess Nyamhita Nyakasikana of Handa, the late heroine, intermediated between her people and ancestors in the African indigenous religion cosmos that prevailed during her time (Dube 2018;Mavengano 2023a). Nehanda thus embodies inherited religio-cultural practices and her memory is used to pay homage to ancestral foundation of the Zimbabwean society.…”