_By_ _Dr_ _Tinashe_ _Gumbo_
_Many_ _themes_ _for_ _Dembo_ _but_ _Poverty_ _tops_ _the_ _list_
Generally, Leonard Dembo’s message is centered on societal issues pertaining to love, unity, peace, poverty, social justice and for me politics too. For this piece, I have decided to track Dembo’s theme on poverty without necessarily explaining his stance.
It is outside the scope of this article to explain why Dembo pursued this particular theme in his work. I use only three of the possible twenty six songs of Dembo that touch on poverty as a thematic area of interest. These are Zorora Wawana (from Paw Paw of 1994); Nhamo Moto (1986) as well as Kukura Hakutani (1990).
I have noted in my research that Leonard sang or at least mentioned poverty in not less than twenty six songs. Reader, you will realise that the notion of “poverty” has been mentioned directly or indirectly through various terms and phrases. These include “nhamo; murombo; kushupika; kutambura; wenhamo; nhamo ndakura nayo; hakuna wakakurira rugare; varombo vanochengeta; rudo haruna murombo; usarega nhamo ichikukurira; nemhosva yehurombo; muranda kumwe; zvinondinetsa zveupenyu hwangu; munhamo nezvinonetsa; nhamo iyi ndakura nayo; kuyaura; ndakakutora uri wenhamo; kutadza kufara zvinoita vana vevamwe; wakakurira munhamo; sekuru ndibatsireiwo munezvinondinetsa; nhamo haimbopere; shamwari yangu nhamo; wotozorora wawana; nhamo idoro; nhamo moto; chirairo chako misodzi; nhamo yedu tiri vaviri and tikashinga tichakunda among many more.
Before, I track a few songs from Dembo on poverty, I would like to share my understanding of poverty based on my historical experience. I also discusses some few scholarly insights on poverty. I end by citing some Biblical texts that address the subject matter. Thus, this section acts as the conceptual framework of the discussion on poverty from Dembo’s perspective.
_Dembo_ _kept_ _me_ _going_
I am one person who never enjoys most of Dembo music. I know everyone will be shocked to hear that coming from me, especially me, of all the people.
I love the Dembo music but certainly I do not enjoy it. I do not even dance to it, but I listen attentively to every word the late artist utters. Each time I listen to any of Dembo song, it will be like I am doing so for the first time. Ndodzamisa pfungwa!
I was born and I grew up in a very poor (at least as far as I understand poverty) family. My family and community at large qualified squarely into the category of poverty. I virtually got used to be in that situation. We called it "Kujaira nhamo chaiko". The abnormal became normal for me. But for the sake of my legacy, I had to persevere.
Dembo music, especially the songs Zorora Wawana and Nhamo Moto kept me going over a period spanning more than three decades and a half now. I would play it continuous whenever I felt like I was under attack from poverty-of course the attack was an ongoing process, it was my daily bread.
I am currently studying for my fifth academic degree, all in a bid to try and help fight poverty in my family and community, if not my country too. I have always been convinced that poverty is something to be fought from all angles including using academic bullets.
In the late 1990s, I proudly became a social, economic and political activist, in order to be "strategically located" to fight poverty, but, I seem not to be winning on this war though. Poverty seems to be growing by each day.
Each time I think of poverty, I feel like I need to continue seeking solutions through gaining more knowledge. I feel like I am not pushing hard. Maybe, one day my community and family shall be free from poverty, I just need to do my part.
I never went to a boarding school, even though I wanted to; I slept on an empty stomach during some of my early days on earth and my parents struggled to pay school fees for me and the Department of Social Welfare had to chip in at some critical moment.
My parents are yet to benefit from me but I am not even in a position to fully satisfy their basic needs. I am slowly but surely beginning to realise that even my kids are almost taking over my poverty as their share of inheritance from me. However, in that pool of poverty, my kids still regard me as their greatest hero of all times-I feel ashamed though.
However, “murombo munhu haavigwi ari mupenyu” and “chikuru kufema”. Indeed, Dembo music has kept me going under these circumstances. The music has remained the pillar of my strength as I always regard myself as a prototype of Leonard Dembo in this regard. I am further convinced that I am just a small sample of the majority Zimbabweans who are kept going by Dembo’s music.
_How_ _others_ _understand_ _Poverty_
The academic definition of poverty has remained elusive. Torres and Eagleson (1982), argue that “poor” is something collective as an isolated poor person does not exist. Yet, the word “poor” itself is a non-tranquilizing word as it connotes social conflicts. The poor should be viewed as a product of an economic, political and social system fashioned by a few for their own benefit. Thus, structural conflict is embedded in the reality of the poor-class conflict as noted by classical theorists such as Karl Marx. I am not sure if Dembo’s conceptualization of poverty took care of such classical thinking.
Sarlo (2019) defines poverty as a circumstance of serious deprivation where a person lacks one or more basic need. The Zimstat (2017:14), on its part defines poverty as the inability to attain a level of well-being constituting a realistic minimum as defined by society. What is emerging from the definitions above is that the poor people are less privileged ones in terms of material resources. However, there seems to be a causer to the situation hence the utilisation of such words as deprived; mmarginalized; disadvantaged and under-developed.
Poverty has also been associated with the following phases: lack of satisfaction in life; inadequacy of basic resources to satisfy human needs and wants; powerlessness to decide economically, politically or socially as well as lack of opportunities and choices leading to vulnerability.
Yet, others have regarded poverty as material deprivation which can be both artificial and natural. Still, others have defined poverty as isolation geographically (urban-rural; low-high density suburbs), politically, economically and technologically.
_Morality_ _of_ _Poverty_
The key question that can be asked is how can the poor be best helped? The general position though is that the Government should practice social justice. Yet, scholars like Grudem (2018) do not link poverty to social justice. However, one can still hold that everyone should act justly whether individual, Government or corporates so that poverty is addressed. This means that practices like corruption which lead to social and economic injustices should be avoided as they lead to poverty. Thus, poverty becomes an injustice issue that can be fought by everyone in the society.
Rank _et_ _al_ (2003) indicate that poverty has traditionally been understood as a failure at the individual level. Therefore, the poor have been viewed as not deserving any form of support from Government or other stakeholders such as local traditional and political leadership as well as the corporates. The key stakeholders have thus been able to find strong justification for doing nothing to address poverty. Yet, one can argue that, in contrast, poverty is a condition emanating mainly from the failure at the structural level. Rank and colleagues thus, go on to regard poverty as a form of injustice rather than a blame game. This is a moral argument that grounds poverty within the structural limitations of a country. It becomes a moral issue that can be addressed through adjustment to policies and regulations in a given context. Reader, you still have to keep in mind this moral argument when engaging Dembo’s view of poverty.
_Biblical_ _Considerations_
While Dembo was not always deeply rooted in theology, he at times made references to God with regards to poverty issues. Thus, it is critical that one picks some few Biblical texts that help in the comprehension of how humanity should treat poverty. The many Biblical texts on poverty command the people to take care of the poor. Mathew 22:29 advises that one should love his or her neighbour which involves helping the poor. Ephesians 2:10 also talks about good works which is basically helping those in in need. This is supported by the call to remember the poor in Galatians 2:10; advice to open one’s hand to a poor brother (Deuteronomy 15:7-8; 15:11); the blessings promised to one who considers the poor (Proverbs 41:1) and the warning not to insult a poor man as this will be tantamount to insulting his Maker (Proverbs 14:31).
God seems to favour the poor hence rejecting them will be like rejection of God himself. In the New Testament too, some specific books such as in Luke, Jesus’ purpose in the ministry is to “proclaim good news to the poor”. His example portrays a concern for and responsibility to the poor. Therefore, for Christians it becomes morally correct to take care of the poor because Jesus himself fulfilled that. In John 3:17, God’s love for the poor is shown where it is taught that poverty should be dealt with so that the poor continue to live. Yet, Leviticus 25 advises that the poor should be assisted and not exploited.
The morality of caring for the poor can also be traced back to the early Church. In Acts of the Apostles, it is shown that community possession was the order of the day. It was distribution to each according to need (Acts 2:44-45). This was a practical and concrete way of overcoming poverty. The principle ensured that no one was to become too rich while others are poor and indeed poverty was unacceptable in the early Church. Ndiokwere (1994:65) in Osunwokeh (n.d.) argues that in Africa the aim for humanity is for quality, long, prosperous, happy and good life. Thus, wealth is desirable for such life to be realised and experienced hence poverty becomes an automatic enemy of Africans. They should be assisted to fight for their share while on earth. Therefore, it will be morally wrong to blame them for their situation without helping them to come out of it. The Church should fight corruption, economic-political injustices in order to liberate the poor.
_In_ _comes_ _Dembo_ : _Poverty_ _as_ _a_ “ _friend_ ”
One Dembo fan, Nicholas Baylor asked “Haa but nhamo ifriend yaDembo papi guys…handinzwisisi song iya ini” (Dembo the Legend group, 2021). Nicholas was certainly referring to Dembo’s song, Zororora Wawana ( a.k.a Wenhamo Wotoirinda). In this song, Dembo describes poverty as his friend. Friendship is an important thing in life. A friend, is expected to be helping his or her partner, to defend the partner, to protect him or her and to amplify one’s aspirations hence the saying “a friend in need is a friend indeed”.
Dembo seems to be complaining that this particular friend has not been a good one. He would say “Kushaya nepamwe paungandibatsira shamwari yangu nhamo iwee?…”. Here is a friend who is not helpful.
Can this friendship be best described as useless?, Passmore Mahembe, adds that indeed, the friendship between humanity and poverty is not helpful. Another Dembo fan, Shamme Caiaphas Tandire Sithole chipped in and said “Nhamo nemunhu hazvisiyani”. He indicates that for people to say that John and Peter are friends, it is because they are always seen together. Yet, the association does not bear positive fruits.
Another Dembo fan, Experience Hwaringa argues that Dembo and poverty were always together. He had this to say “Iye nenhamo vaigara vari vese, they were like buddies because pese paari kwaingova kutambura chete…”.
Clemence Tariro Mapfumo, too comes in and sums Dembo’s style as “this is lyrical genius my friend”. He goes on to say that poverty acrtually allowed Dembo to continuously work harder, otherwise, in that sense it became a desirable phenomenon. Without poverty, humanity tends to relax.
In the song, Zorora Wawana, Dembo also seems to encourage the poor to persevere. He reminds the poor to continue to work while the rich are enjoying the fruits of the same poor men or women. Dembo gives some hope to the poor by showing that the poor will one day rest after this hard work. One’s power (sweat) is presented as the solution to poverty.
While Dembo does not directly blame the rich for one’s poverty, he certainly insinuates that the rich have a hand in one’s poverty status. Reader, this song personally kept me going!
_Poverty_ _as_ _Fire_ , _Super_ _and_ _Beer_
In Nhamo Moto, poverty is described variously by Dembo. Firstly, it is presented as fire which burns innocent things. In this case therefore, poverty is a ruthless thing that is not sensitive to the plight of humanity. In most cases, one will be very innocent but he or she suffers a great deal from poverty. Thus, one can still ask the question, who is that person who deserves poverty? Should we suffer from poverty because of our parents, our grandparents, or our race?
Dembo seems to argue that most of us are innocent but we remain victims of poverty. He however, fails to point towards those that deserve poverty maybe because of their deeds.
In the same song, Dembo seems to argue that poverty is like beer that intoxicates even first time drinkers. It will always “take you” to another world even if you are a first timer.
The musician however, takes time to argue for the point that poverty seems to affect mostly the orphans. This particular orphan is presented with a situation where poverty becomes his or her super on a daily basis. Day in day out, an orphan cries out for help.
Maybe, Dembo here feels like this orphan does not deserve poverty, but his or her parents, who are nowhere to be seen (maybe due to death or other circumstances). Dembo comes up with a “solution” for this orphan to escape from poverty. Marriage is given as a solution to this female orphan. It remains a major question if indeed, marriage is a solution to poverty or not.
_Poverty_ _as_ _a_ _shared_ _stubborn_ _phenomenon_
One thing that I noted in Dembo is that he regards poverty as a shared phenomenon, one which can never be monopolized.
In Kukura Hakutani, after lamenting the loss of a potential lover whom he had seen grow, Dembo quickly switches to the poverty theme. He concedes that poverty is our daily lives, all of us. He goes on to claim that Zimbabwe at large is in poverty. Worse still, even the white men and women is a victim of poverty. He claims that no one can defeat poverty. You can only do so once you are dead, otherwise poverty persists. Ironically, Dembo goes on to wear a brave face and he says “Nhamo yedu tiri vaviri tikashinga tichakunda….ini neZimbabwe…”.
Poverty reminds Dembo of his “gwenyankwenya”. It has been a norm that when one (especially man) loses a potential lover, he or she starts to think of his or her material status.
_Therefore_ _poverty_ _an_ _enemy_ _and_ _not_ _friend_
Scanning through the twenty six songs of Dembo, and also reliving my history as well as taking note of some scholarly work on poverty before relying on some few Biblical texts, it became clear that poverty should never be tolerated. It is an enemy to humanity and has kept Leonard Dembo on his toes. The same phenomenon has particularly deprived many, me included, of their potential in life. God himself, has disproved it hence, it becomes one’s obligation to fight it. Yet, in very difficult situations, Dembo kept me going through his music!
For feedback and interaction: contact me on my Mobile/WhatsApp +263 773218860; Email: tinashegumbo@gmail.com; Blog: tinashegumbo.wordpress.com; Twitter: DrTinasheGumbo1; Facebook: Tinashe Gumbo
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