Published by the government of Zimbabwe
24 August 2009
book review
Harare — Coming Home
By Olley Tsino Maruma,
Runniville, Gonamombe Press, 2007
160 pages
ISBN: 978-0-7974-3352-6
HIGHLY ambivalent in the beginning but gradually developing a definite and realistic course as the story unfolds. Perhaps this is the best way to sum up Olley Tsino Maruma, lawyer, freelance journalist, television producer, filmmaker and socio-political commentator/analyst's novel, Coming Home.
The book was launched recently in Avondale, Harare.
The book sounds like another rendition of the history of Zimbabwe. This is one reason why the book would be an invaluable addition to any bookshelf that intends to be rich, literary-wise.
Any discerning reader would want to question what and where this "home" is and where the returnee is coming from and why.
One would also want to establish whether he finds that home in the same state he had left it. As one goes through Coming Home, these questions gradually get answered.
Coming Home is a semi-autobiography tracing the life of Simon Nyamadzawo, who returns home to Rhodesia following eight years of exile in the United Kingdom. He awakens to the realities of "home" which he finds has metamorphosed but has not lost the racial bigotry that characterised the country before he left. This poses a serious question about that place he has always called "home".
Simon is aware of the war that has been raging in his home country but nevertheless; "As it (the South African Airways jumbo) touched down, my eyes were struck by the awesome sight of the squadron of camouflaged Hawker Hunter jets, stationed outside the huge hangar at the far eastern side of the airport. Their fearsome presence there was a vivid reminder that the war was not yet over, despite the enormous progress that had been made at the Lancaster House Conference. After fifteen years of a brutal civil war that had claimed the lives of an estimated 50 000 people, it would have been unrealistic to expect otherwise."
The hope that was in the protagonist suddenly fades as he comes face-to-face with reality. Home should have provided solace and comfort for him. He obviously had hoped for an improved social, economic and political landscape.
The story is set in the last few months of colonial rule in Zimbabwe and somehow one will be forgiven for assuming that the author is chronicling his own experiences.
There is a way in which the book draws on factual historical detail, which lends it some vein of realism. For instance there is reference to The Herald newspaper billboard with the headline: "CARRINGTON CLOSE TO SETTLEMENT". Lord Carrington, who was appointed British Foreign Secretary by the Conservative Thatcher government between 1979 and 1982, is a true historical figure who chaired the Lancaster House Conference that led to Zimbabwe's Independence in 1980.
Coming Home details how central the issue of land was at the Lancaster House Conference. "This subject had produced some of the toughest haggling at the Conference. The two negotiating delegations were deadlocked over the issue for more than three weeks." (Page 5) Land tenure has been a defining detail in determining the course of Zimbabwe's history.
Simon had indeed come "home" but only to find that Rhodesia was still prevalent, with the Ian Smith regime having carved an internal settlement that gave birth to the transitory Zimbabwe-Rhodesia. Internal leaders, Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole and Bishop Abel Muzorewa had been thrust into prominence to divide blacks and hence ensure that Rhodesian supremacist control remained intact.
University of Zimbabwe Department of English lecturer Memory Chirere, commenting on Coming Home, writes: "In many ways this is a filmmaker's novel. The narrator has the eagle's eye, seeing without being seen."
The late Arthur Jim-Patsanza also weighs in saying; "Maruma has the ability to use words in such a way that you get a full picture of what Zimbabwe is like in all its beauty and majesty."
What is evident from both commentators' views is that Maruma successfully paints the Zimbabwe-Rhodesia that he wants to portray and every reader is captivated by the indelible print the book leaves in one's mind.
The picture becomes so cinematic that the reader drowns in the same uncertainty that grips the narrator when he sees the troubled mood in Zimbabwe-Rhodesia. The nature of the conflict obtaining at "home" had become complex.
Whereas the enemy had traditionally been Rhodesian supremacist policies fortified by the institutionalisation of racial discrimination, new fighters had entered the arena like "Pfumo Revanhu" (The Spear of the nation) led by Bishop Abel Muzorewa. "My brother was still in the bush fighting with the guerillas. None of us knew exactly where he was, although word had come through three months ago that he was operating in the Mount Darwin area." (Page 19)
The Rhodesian system thrived on racial discrimination. Even inter-racial relationships were not a common thing. "It was both foolish and hazardous for an African man to flirt with or make any amorous moves on the coloured women at Scamps or Time and Place." (Page 81)
The black sports personality in the story had not been so lucky. He was "brutally beaten up" and "Word went about afterwards that the three assailants were volunteer soldiers in the Rhodesian army." (Page 81)
The book ends with the advent of majority rule in the country with Robert Mugabe being sworn in as Prime Minister thus igniting wild celebrations throughout the capital in particular and the country in general.
However, pockets of resistance remained afterwards with crowds that had vowed to pull down Cecil John Rhodes' statue on "Jameson Avenue" (present-day Samora Machel Avenue) being threatened with arrest by police on patrol. Such had been the might of the Rhodesian system, buttressed by police heavy-handedness.
"We told them that anyone who touched it would be arrested." (Page 158) What we also see in this is a deliberate attempt to bring back the clock on the part of reactionary sections of the Rhodesian population.
Born in Bulawayo, Olley Tsino Maruma has worked as a freelance journalist for both the electronic and print media since the 1980s.
He attended Goromonzi where he attained O-Level, after which he went into exile in the UK.
While in exile, Olley completed A-Level and enrolled at the University of Kent in Canterbury, graduating with a BA Honours Degree in Law.
Between 1978 and 1979, Olley received vocational training in television production at the British Council's Media Department in London a period during which he had the opportunity of being attached to the BBC's current affairs programme "Out of Court".
When he returned to Zimbabwe just before independence, he briefly worked as a public prosecutor before joining ZBC as a TV producer/director and newsreader.
In 1983, Olley left Zimbabwe for Paris where he received training in film production at Sertis Vacari Films and at Societe Francaise de Production.
He has also lectured in TV production at the Harare Polytechnic's Institute of Mass Communication.
Olley has produced numerous documentaries and is working on his second novel "Time: The Good Sister's Brillo Pad".
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