The ManicaPost
Morris Mtisi
THIS is the last of a three-part series. I hope you enjoyed it. I know though, that those who feed on the vulnerability, infallibility and gullibility of young girls found my sentiments repulsive.
I also know that the devil, Satan himself, found these articles disgusting, for it is his mission to lead generations away from God who is his enemy number one. When people go wrong, the devil celebrates. When marriages and families disintegrate, he smiles. When children lose focus and decency, honour and responsibility, Satan ululates in uncontrollable joy.
And lest we forget! When the devil works, he uses other people. They could be your siblings, your friends, your spouse (yes, your spouse) your favourite celebrity . . . your best radio presenter or DJ, your teacher even! The reason is simple. He does not use his name, Lucifer or Satan, because then everyone would realise they are following the devil. Satan has ambassadors in every station and walk of life, including churches, but they do not have badges on their foreheads.
I accidentally bumped into a small group of friends with two copies of The Manica Post. They were arguing with fierce emotional oomph . . . literally quarrelling in a friendly way, at the top of their voices. One was saying, “It is true. We need new celebs in Zimbabwe. Those who profess to be celebrities are not celebrities. They are devil incarnates used to recruit youths into Hell as Mtisi writes. He is right. We want to hear more people say that. Mtisi alone is too few. Adults must not stand aside and watch while the values of our children are going to the dogs with Music and stupid advertisements that demean women and young girls.” Another one said, “The problem with the entertainment business is that it is embedded in selling sex. It thrives on what sells, not what is right. And sex sells like hot cakes! Zimbabwe was not like this thirty . . . forty years ago. It has gradually grown into a nation with people who have no sense of decency and verbal hygiene . . . most of them stupidly excited about and in love with obscenity.”
I stopped to hear every word of their heated argument. The third one spoke. “Mtisi is an old man who thinks this world will go back to the old days when it mattered to be decent . . . the olden days of good boys and girls. People do not care today . . . what they say or what they sing. So long as there are listeners and buyers of what they are selling! It is about money . . . not manners. ”
“You are out of the argument. It is not about what Mtisi says or how old he is we are discussing here. His opinion is, ‘Zimbabwe needs new celebs.’ Is he right or wrong? We are saying he is right. At l least I am saying he is right. Whether he is young or old, that is another story. We will all get older one day. And age comes with life experience and wisdom anyway. He did not say he wants people to go back to the iron-age, did he?” Vote number one.
I continued to listen . . . unnoticed of course, lest one of them recognised me. They went on fighting . . . some agreeing with me, others agreeing but not thinking that it was possible to change things . . . and yet one of them seemingly concluding that I was a mad fundamentalist.
I was satisfied that he was the more drunk of the rest …and one who looked like he was the one with the least brain cells in his skull. Maybe it was only impairment of judgment that came with having taken one too many.
In some settings people are more careful not to be caught arguing about somebody or something, let alone about celebrities . . . for many young men and women, for some strange or funny reason, strongly believe they are celebrities. They are it and they are with it! You only see from their airs of grace and childish dramatic exploits that they believe they are celebrities. Mental derangement is not a trademark of a celebrity!
All the same, people have the right to agree or disagree with opinion. That is democracy, is it not? Even the right to be mentally deranged in broad daylight!
In this last instalment of the call for new celebs in Zimbabwe, I want you to imagine Ammara Brown (she is one of the celebrities, is she not?) standing up and speaking to the thousands of young girls in Zimbabwe to be decently dressed, to treasure education and stop drug consumption and say no to student prostitution. And besides her, Tamy Moyo and Cindy Munyavi! Would that not be wonderful?
Imagine Jah Prayzah saying to the youths of Zimbabwe, “We have a job to do together, to change our mindsets and develop this beautiful country in the right direction. Every day we must grow . . . and growing up involves sense and discipline. No to blessers and being blessed at universities … no to mbanje!
And Andy Muridzo saying, “It is high time we returned to the point we missed the bus. We turned left and went too far . . . over the hills and far far away towards the road marked NO THROUGH ROAD! It is time to turn right where there is a way of life . . . where there is sense and meaning . . . but above all where there is life, not death.”
May be Ngoni Chibuwe, Martin Mangongo and Godwin Mangenje, young legends in rugby . . . genuine celebrities playing world-class rugby in Europe, saying, “Zimbabwe is our motherland. Its glory and laurels . . . its splendour and grandeur, are engraved in the names of young sane celebrities basking in sport, music, the arts and other forms of recreation and entertainment. Let us come together and show our peers the essence of responsibility and discipline.”
May be it is the Honourable Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation, Kirsty Coventry, herself a genuine celebrity who came a long way saying, “You can ask me. Swimming is not ability to float on the water and caress the current. It is hard work. And hard work involves seriousness of purpose, determination and selflessness. A sense of achievement does not come on empty pride and self-imaging. Every achievement worth celebrating comes with a sense of honour and dignity . . . and above all a sense of responsibility.”
May be it is Honourable Monica Mutsvangwa, Dr Ellen Gwaradzimba and Honourable Oppah Muchinguri or Marble Chinomona saying to the girls in the schools, colleges and universities, “We lost the prime times of our lives and answered to the call of duty . . . and joined the armed struggle at a very young age. We knew when we joined the armed struggle we were not going to a fashion show or beauty contest. It was a war. We knew we would either come back home dead or alive. The idea was not to free ourselves or our own families but every Zimbabwean. We fought and were ready to die for our country so that the next generation would go to school and live better lives than us. And here you are the next generation. Where are you going? Where are freedom and your books taking you?”
There are many heroes and heroines, celebrities and legends in Zimbabwe who could each contribute a bit of sense, direction and sanity into the youths who are in the danger of being a lost or dead generation.
I could have lived in the days of Saul who later was Paul and believe in perfect behavioural transformation. I could have seen the beautiful lady who met Jesus at the well and had a crush on him . . . wanted to seduce him but ended up realising she had met Jesus her Saviour, not her sweetheart. I could have known the Prodigal son and got perplexed at his prodigality . . . playing music and dancing wildly, eating and drinking . . . easting every day and throwing money around like a drunken sailor . . . all girls in the cities calling him ‘darling’ and he bravely sinning with them in every way God hates…literally everyone of them wanting his baby and celebrating his lavish life. Until it was game over! He was bankrupt and hungry. He thought about his father, his family and his home. The rest is familiar history.
I see this happening one day soon in Zimbabwe. Young men who are genuine celebrities or excitable dreamers; that is not the issue…choosing sanity! The issue is coming together to give Zimbabwe a new moral shape and direction . . . vibrant new activists spearheading a new revolution of character transformation for sustainable development. While politicians continue to seek political solutions best suited for our country . . . and business men and women doing business for Zimbabwe . . . Churches supplying spiritual endurance needed for survival . . . teachers preparing learners for examinations, it is my fervent hope that as a country we do not forget the moral fabric of our children and society. It is a critical determinant of a Zimbabwe worth space on the world map . . . a Zimbabwe that the generation of their mothers and fathers found worth fighting for and dying for.
A Zimbabwe that is full of thieves . . .even executive thieves busy stealing from their own government; full of teaching and learning prostitutes . . .wild weed smokers and abusers of narcotic drugs . . . full of unfaithful wives and husbands promoting ‘small houses’ and huts, students and pupils who hate school, Christians who talk about Jesus but continue to sin, is not a Zimbabwe we want. Certainly not a Zimbabwe worth the blood and lives of so many Zimbabweans!
As we end the Heroes week, let us continue to reflect. Why did so many daughters and sons of this beloved country sacrifice their lives? So that we become so corrupt and irresponsible that we forget that the future of our children belongs to them and not to us? So that our children in schools, colleges and universities worship sex and fashion and not God . . . idolise narcotic drug addicts and obscene-songwriters thriving on lyrical vulgarity, and not verbal decency? So that our children in schools celebrate sex-orgies, vuzu parties, and not Jesus? So that we become so free that we forget our honour and dignity as a people . . .our cultural values and sense of humankind . . . so that we forget that children are the window of hope and the future . . . and that if these are lost there is no future to talk about? And above all, so that they forget God? Is that why all these heroes and heroines sacrificed so much? If the answer to any of these bayoneting questions is ‘yes’, then stop the world and let sane people get off.
