He wrote Dust Diaries, ‘Het Afrikaanse dagbok van Arthur Cripps’, after traveling to Zimbabwe in the footsteps of his unorthodox ancestor who was an Anglican missionary there in the early 1900s. He had devoted his entire life to the indigenous people, living among them in a simple hut, eating what they ate, wearing ragged clothing like they did, observing their customs and patching his worn-out shoes. He was branded a ‘negrophile’ and shunned by the whites and also by his church.
Tracing his life more than 50 years later, Owen discovered and fell in love with Zimbabwe and her people. His book is a charming mixture of biography and fiction, with vivid descriptions of the scenery, people and customs that are my own. It is written from the heart, with sensitivity, love and conviction, and evoked bitter-sweet memories for me. We discovered we had many friends and experiences in common.
So, there we were, a middle-aged black man and young white man in a brown pub in Amsterdam, drinking ‘witte bier’ and mourning the tragedy that has befallen a country we both love. We bonded instantly - it was a delightful meeting.
During his travels the author had a chance meeting with Chenjerai Hunzvi – the man who spear-headed the farm invasions back in 1999 – and whose name sent cold chills down the spine of many white farmers. His actions marked the beginning of the Mugabe government’s chaotic and corrupt ‘land reform programme’ which has led to the collapse of the Zimbabwean economy.
Owen Sheers describes his encounter in a bar in Harare with this political gangster. When Hunzvi tried to dismiss Cripps as just another land-grabbing colonialist, the young man argued with him persuasively before being warned that his life would be in danger if he didn’t shut up.
Ironically, Cripps had been the one white man in the early days with the foresight to understand that the land and its ownership was the key to the nation’s future. He argued eloquently against the blatantly unjust land policies of the administrators. When he failed to convince them, Cripps decided to live out his beliefs in a tangible manner. He raised the money to buy three farms in Mashonaland and divided the land up between the local people – giving each a workable smallholding with security of tenure outside the communal lands, thus exempting them from the iniquitous “hut tax” which had been imposed by the authorities in order to force blacks to work for the settlers.
Owen gives a graphic description of an annual festival at which Cripps is remembered in a unique blend of Christian and traditional Shona rituals. That such a celebration continues, more than 50 years after the white man’s death, is remarkable. Not only does it show the depth and significance of his non-racial legacy, but also how specious is the government’s preaching of racial hatred and division. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - Race is not the real problem in Zimbabwe today. It is the excuse used by political demagogues to disguise their greed, their corruption and their lust for power.
All columns by Wilf Mbanga
| Wilf Mbanga, one of the founders of the independent Zimbabwean daily newspaper "The Daily News", is currently living in Tilburg, the Netherlands. He writes about the differences between Tilburg and Harare. His column is printed weekly in "Het Brabants Dagblad". |
