FIRST LADY Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa on Friday broke new ground by hosting an impactful first-of-its-kind African-themed cultural night during which the national dress was showcased and exclusively Zimbabwean beverages — including the famous Seven Days — and cuisine were served, giving guests a deeper sense of belonging and pride in the country’s traditional norms and values.
The inaugural event, which ran under the theme “My Culture
My Pride #Jira Takayenda naAmai”, was well-coordinated.
It brought together Cabinet ministers, traditional leaders,
designers, models, musicians, foreign dignitaries and the who is who in
Zimbabwean society.
It was a marvel to see guests of various races and creed
resplendent in apparel made from the national fabric — which gave them an
unmistakable Zimbabwean identity.
The top-drawer event was spiced up by a modelling contest,
which gave guests a glimpse into evening, cultural, corporate and casual wear
made from the national fabric.
Designers and models drawn from all the country’s
provinces, who were given the national fabric by the First Lady to show a range
of apparel it can be morphed into, did not disappoint.
Winners of the mother of the nation’s traditional meal
cookout competition from all the provinces, led by Amai Mnangagwa, prepared
various traditional dishes the way they do back home.
They also prepared the homemade alcoholic brew that is
popularly known as Seven Days, which left people crying out for more.
Dishes prepared included mazondo, dried vegetables in
peanut butter, matumbu (casings), maguru (tripe), zvinyenze and dried meat in
peanut butter.
Pumpkin leaves, green mealies, sweet potatoes, pumpkin in
peanut butter (nhopi), samp, mopani worms (madora), traditional rice, sorghum
sadza, millet sadza and round nuts completed the array of dishes on offer.
Musicians — who include Mathias Mhere, Sulumani Chimbetu, Andy Muridzo, Diana Samkange, Karingezuva and Gwevedzi traditional groups — performed at the function, where they got everyone onto the dance floor after belting out a collaborative piece called “Jira Takayenda naAmai”.
Vice President Dr Constantino Chiwenga, who was the guest
of honour, paid tribute to the First Lady’s contributions to the nation’s
cultural and socio-economic development.
“Let me express my heartfelt gratitude to my Amaiguru, the
First Lady of Zimbabwe, Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa, for ever thinking of this noble
idea, namely, to republicise and promote our national dress in this very
special and impactful way.
“Given who she is and what she continues to do for our
nation, from assisting disadvantaged individuals, the girl-child, marginalised
families, right through to communities, I am the least surprised.
“This latest initiative is very much in character, and
expands on her role and personality as a sensitive mother figure who daily
administers to the welfare needs of our nation,” he said.
When the national dress project was launched, Dr Chiwenga
said, not many Zimbabweans grasped what all that meant.
Chinese children clad in the Zimbabwean national fabric
model at the cultural night that was organised by First Lady Dr Auxillia
Mnangagwa at State House on Friday
“To many, it was just one of those wasteful things. To
others, it was yet another instance of the ZANU PF prescribing what the citizen
must wear, indeed yet another case of ‘command’ politics for which we are
undeservedly derided by our detractors.
“But a few who saw and see far, saw beyond cloth, dress,
wrapper and shirt. They saw the personality and character of a people being
reinvented for an independent Zimbabwe.”
He went on to say that a person’s identity can be inferred
a lot from their attire.
“We are what we dress! When I say so, I am going deeper
than mere individual personality, what I am alluding to is at the heart of
national identity. Our identity as a free and sovereign people.
“Our identity as an African nation. Yes, our identity as
Zimbabweans. It is not by mere coincidence that more than four decades after
our independence, our sense of dressing is exclusively Caucasian, British to be
specific.
“We have to ask ourselves why this is so. How we feel
covered and dressed coincides with our historical association and experience
with our former colonisers, the British.
“We never sought to dress like Russians. We never sought to
dress like the Chinese or like Arabs, like Indians or the Aborigines. Most of
all, we cast away the apparel of our forefathers — an African apparel — to
dress ourselves anew with made-in-England garments or material,” he said.
That choice and exercise, he said, was much more than a
decision to protect ourselves from the elements — the cold, the wind, the sun,
the rain and dust.
“In fact, in a variety of ways, and to ridiculous levels,
we often dressed against the requirements of our weather. Imagine an African
gentlemen wearing a three-piece suit, a tie and a hat against the sweltering
September heat in the heart of the Savannah! Asi taishingirira as we baked
black, consoling ourselves using the British saying ‘a gentleman has no
weather’! Who was the model gentleman? From which nationality? Of course, the
model gentleman was British, and imitating this imported model became the measure
of civilisation and modernity! Therein coincides dressing and identity. We
swapped our pre-colonial national dressing habits for that of the conqueror!”
he said. Sunday Mail
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