From: barnhart@gagme.chi.il.us (Mr Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS: ZIMBABWE: ONLY THE APPEASED SPIRITS CAN BRING RAIN
Originator: barnhart@gagme
Organization: Evanston, Illinois
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 22:44:51 GMT

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Reference: Agriculture
Title: ZIMBABWE: ONLY THE APPEASED SPIRITS CAN BRING RAIN


an inter press service feature

by lewis machipisa

mutasa, zimbabwe, sep 30 (ips) -- only a month from the rainy
season, peasant farmers ploughing the parched land with their
bare hands and waiting anxiously for the rains which did not
come last year.

their cattle, lean and dehydrated as a result of the long
drought, are too weak to pull the ploughs.

but although meteorologists forcast a good rainy season this
year, elders in mutasa, a drought-stricken communal area 200
kilometres from the capital, harare, say that rains will not
come again unless traditional rituals are perfomed by elders.

''the rains will not come as long as the spirits are angry
with us'', says village headman otto mukahanana.

the spirits are angry, the elders say, because of the influx
of refugees who do not understand the customs of the land.

''there are are a lot of mozambican squatters in this area.
they do not value our sacred areas and their culture is
different from ours. they should go back. they are angering our
spirits'', says village head oscar manyangadze.

manyangadze says in the past people used to collect food,
brew african beer, feast and dance to thank the ancestors at the
end of a rainy season.

but now he said, people do not bother to consult the
ancestors for guidance or to give thanks.

these days the rituals are perfomed by inexperienced young
people and they are not doing it correctly, mukahanana said.

''you find people trying to appease the spirits with the
whitemen's beer (clear beer) hoping for help. never'', mukahanana
told ips.

but the major reason the spirits are upset manyangadze says,
is because the chiefs have been stripped of their powers by the
government.

in the past, disputes in villages were settled by chiefs but
now the task has been taken over by primary courts introduced by
the government.

''the chiefs have been reduced to figure heads. they cannot
make a decision without the consent of the government'', laments
manyangadze. (moreips)


zimbabwe: only (2)

mukahanana also believes the present construction of a dam on
the sacred lands is akin to a nation wanting to destroy itself.

''this place they are tampering with is of ancestral
significance and in my view we haven't seen anything yet'', he
said.

the present drought has been described as the worst in livin
memory. already this year 173,801 cattle have died of starvation
and dehydration. it is reported commercial farmers have so far
lost about 360 million dollars.

while they wait for the rain, the governemnt's drought relief
programme, gives each family a five kg of maize per month
regardless of the size of the family.

''this is too little considering that i have nine people to
look after'', says a villager who identified himself only as
muhonde.

women with husbands employed in the urban areas do not get
this drought relief food. some of the wives in this village
complained that thy were excluded from drought relief despite
the fact that their absent husbands did not support the
families.

''some husbands do not look after their families at all.
especially my husband'', says one woman adding that she will not
take her case to the authorities because it is not traditional
to report husbands.

but, while some peasants have prepared their land in
anticipation of rain next month some cannot do so because the
land is too dry.

''one thing is certain -- if the rains do not come this year
we are going to die'', says mukahanana. (end/ips/lm/et/tvh/92)

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