# Introduction ifferent forms of harm are treated in Zimbabwean war fiction. They range from psychological, physical and sexual. Using different characters, the Zimbabwean war fiction writers propose different approaches to the healing of the harm which Zimbabweans suffered during the war of liberation. The approaches range from: i) forgive and/or pardon and forget, ii) punish and forget iii) truth and reconciliation. The chosen works of fiction are treated one after the other. Where needs be the researcher compares what each fiction writer asserts with what comes from the reading of the other works of fiction which are under study. The works of fiction under study are treated from a diachronic approach. Those that were published first are treated first. That approach is preferred since the assumption is that the methods of healing to the harm experienced by Zimbabweans during the struggle, which fiction writers lobby for, are conditioned by the passage of time in the post-independence era. Mlambo's short story 'Maokizirari' (1984) will be treated first. It will be followed by Makari's novel Zvaida Kushinga (1985). The next in line will be Choto's Vavariro (1989). # II. # War of Liberation in Zimbabwe The fighting parties contested for victory up to until a ceasefire was called in 1979. When ceasefire commenced, members from the different contesting parties attended a conference held at Lancaster -England. That conference came to be known as the proceedings came up with agreements which were later transformed into a constitution. It is that constitution which is referred to in this chapter as the Lancaster House Constitution. The constitution encouraged the policy of reconciliation between and among fighting parties. That policy of reconciliation was to be founded on the principle of 'forgive and forget'. The same constitution, stipulated that land was to be redistributed on the willing-seller-will buyer basis. According to Chigora (2006), the new Zimbabwean government was to be the willing buyer of the land which it was going to acquire for the purpose of redistributing to the majority of the 'landless' Zimbabweans whilst the white commercial farmers were to be the willing sellers of that land. The British government offered to sponsor the new Zimbabwean government with financial grants to purchase the land in question. In 1978, the Smith regime wanted to enforce a policy of internal settlement with political parties that operated from within Zimbabwe, (Cole, 1985: 430)). Therefore, it called for elections to elect a Prime Minister. Muzorewa's UANC party won the elections held in April 1979, (Cole, 1985: 422). Because of that win, Muzorewa became the new Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. He immediately renamed Rhodesia to Zimbabwe-Rhodesia. As the New Prime Minister of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, Muzorewa formed his own army. That army had a Shona name Pfumo Ravanhu. Members of the Pfumo Ravanhu security forces were popularly known as auxiliary forces by virtue of the fact that, Pfumo Ravanhu was to serve as an ancillary army to the National Army of Zimbabwe Rhodesia. The Shona people called the Pfumo Ravanhu security forces either Maokizirari or Madzakutsaku. Therefore, the so-called MaOkizirari in this chapter, are members of the Pfumo Ravanhu force which was established soon after Muzorewa won the elections for the position of Prime Minister of Rhodesia in 1979. Therefore, the MaOkizirari or Madzakutsaku were very active in 1979 up to until ceasefire that was announced in December of the same year. They were notorious for raping and abusing women sexually. That is what Mlambo (1984) exposes in his literary creation. What is considered to bee war fiction in this chapter is that fiction which treats the proceedings of the 2 nd Chimurenga. The so-called 3 rd Chimurenga in this chapter is a struggle that was wagged by black Zimbabweans in order to grab land from the white commercial farmers for the purpose of redistributing it to the majority of Zimbabweans. It commenced in the year 2000 and is yet to come to its sound conclusion. This short exposition of the nature of liberation struggles in Zimbabwe helps the writer to discuss the dichotomy of harm and healing as it is treated in the selected works of fiction. Those works of fiction are treated one after the other in line with their years of publication. III. Harm and Healing in Maokizirari (Auxiliary Forces). The short story 'MaOkizirari' treats the trauma and the physical pain that is suffered by a young woman of eighteen years. She suffers sexual harm when she is forcefully raped by Dhende an auxiliary force who before the sun rises asks another auxiliary by the name Gaka to rape her too. Therefore, she is raped several times by the two members of the auxiliary forces. During the raping encounter the girl suffers unwelcome touch, indecent exposition which amounts to a high level of psychological torment and harm. She also suffers physical harm when she is forcefully pushed to the ground and when Dhende pins her to the ground through maintaining his foot on her chest. She suffers physical harm when she is deflowered in that incident of rape. The young woman suffers not only a single count of rape but several counts. She says that, 'Raiita richizororera kusvikira kunze kwachena' (He raped me several times up to until dawn), (p. 181). Before the raping encounter begins, the girl suffers extreme psychological trauma when her mother, father, brother and sister are killed in cold blood in her full view. The aftermath of the raping sessions also leads the girl to suffer serious psychological torment. In the first place she suffers the trauma of being dumped by her lover who is overseas the moment he learns of the case of rape. She also suffers the trauma of nursing an unwanted pregnancy for after three moths from the day she is raped the girl discovers that she is pregnant with Dhende's child. She also suffers the harm of bearing and looking after a baby boy who is the product of the crime of sex and violence. She says that, 'Handina kana kuda kumutarira?.Chakandishatirisa ndechokuti mwana uyu aiva akafanana naDhende zvakanyanya' (I did not even want to have sight of the baby boy?.what hurt me most was the fact that the boy was like Dhende's replica), (P. 183). She suffers physical harm since after delivering Mashura, the girl falls ill shortly thereafter. As a result of her post-delivery illness, the doctor recommends that she has to consent to the removal of her uterus. The girl has no choice but to consent, because failure to consent will lead to her death. The doctor carries out the operation and the uterus is removed. That means she is not going to conceive any more. Using this eighteen year old girl character, Mlambo captures the physiological, psychological and sexual harm that civilians suffered during the liberation struggle. Using the same character Mlambo proposes some methods that can be used to heal the different forms of harm Zimbabwean women suffered during the struggle. Mlambo seems to suggest that the healing of an injured person is achieved when the culprit is forget" as the strategy for healing the wounds incurred during the war of liberation. When Gaka and Dhende are apprehended by the police, the girl comments, 'Mwoyo wangu wakati farei kunzwa kuti varoyi vangu vaive vabatwa' (I felt a little bit happy when I learnt that those who had bewitched me (the two auxiliary forces) had been apprehended by the police), (P. 183). Her happiness increases when she finally learns of the type of punishment that is imposed on the two. She says that, 'Takanzwa kuti Dhende naGaka vakatongerwa rufu. Hazvina zvazvaibatsira kwandiri asi ndakafara kuti hama dzangu dzakatsiviwa' (We heard that Dhende and Gaka were given a death sentence. That was of no help to me. However, I was happy that the killing of my relatives had been revenged), (P. 184). What that means is, in this short story, death sentence and/or capital punishment is celebrated as a form of a healing ointment to the harm incurred during the liberation struggle. Therefore, Mlambo approves of corrective justice as the healing strategy to the harm that different people suffered during the war. Corrective justice is a reactive and retributive form of justice. That being the case, what it seems is, for Mlambo, total healing of the harm committed on individuals during the war is only possible when those people who either suffered harm or who were fighting on the side of those who suffered that harm finally win the war and those that perpetrated the harm lose it. The girl character in the short story concludes that, 'Nhasi uno ndinofara zvangu. Chikuru chandinotenda ndechokuti nyika yedu yairwirwa tava nayo' (Today, I am happy. What I am grateful of is the fact that the country that was being fought for is now in our hands), (P. 184). What that means is punishing the culprits is just a step towards total healing since it is attainment of independence which will serve as the ointment for healing all the forms of harm that were suffered by the masses during the liberation war. # IV. Harm and Healing in Zvaida Kushinga (You had to be Brave) In Zvaida kushinga, Makari depicts different forms of harm that were suffered by the masses during the liberation struggle. In the novel, Sabhuku Mberikwazvo (Kraal-head Mberikwazvo), who is the writer's main character, epitomizes the harm which the ordinary men and women suffered during the struggle. Mberikwazvo is battered and traumatized in different ways by the Rhodesian policemen. Be that as it may, before Makari treats the brutalization of Mberi, by the police, he gives Mberi the power to ponder over the suffering of the black people in the hands of the Rhodesian white colonialists. Wrapped in his thoughts, Mberikwazvo remembers how the colonialists had distributed land on racial lines. He remembers that they took all the arable land and distributed rocky and sandy soils to the blacks. What that means is Mlambo is of the view that one of the greatest harm the black people suffered in the colonial era is loss of fertile lands on which they used to practice agriculture. Furthermore, as he continues to ponder over all these colonial misdeeds, Mberikwazvo suffers an extreme psychological unrest. The trauma he suffers is evidenced by some rhetoric questions which he is always posing for himself. Some of the questions are: 'Ko kuchazove rinhiko kuti mutema agarike? Mutema akasikirwa kutambura chete here?' (When shall a black person enjoy prosperity in life? Was a black person created to suffer without ceasing? (P. 6). In his stream of consciousness, Mberikwazvo also captures the harm that was suffered by Nehanda Kaguvi and their compatriots when some of them were butchered by the white colonialists during the First Chimurenga. At one time Mberi remembers his father commenting on the events of the First Chimurenga of 1895-6 in these words: 'Ropa rakateuka misodzi ikaerera.' (There was a lot of shedding of both blood and tears), (P. 9). Using Mberikwazvo's stream of consciousness and Mberikwazo's father as his mouthpiece, Makari informs the reader that the history of the black Zimbabweans is a history of struggle for independence that is characterized by a lot of harm and trauma. After he has used Mberikwazvo to capture that harm, Makari shifts his focus from the First Chimurenga and uses Mberikwwazvo to capture the harm blacks suffered under the colonial rule and during the Second Chimurenga. In the first place, Makari depicts Mberikwazvo suffering untold physical and emotional abuse inflicted on him by Mazhindu. Mazhindu is a white commercial farmer and Mberi's former employer. Mazhindu supervises the dipping of cattle in Zaka District. As supervisor, he asks Mberi to report the number of his cattle to him. Mberi reports to him in English. Mazhindu becomes angry with him for he expects Mberi to give him that information in Shona. Without much ado, Mazhindu starts abusing Mberi physically and emotionally. The emotional abuse results from the verbal abuse Mberikwazvo makes do with on this particular day. At one time, Mazhindu addresses Mberi as 'iyo' (it), (P. 7) and not as 'iwe' (you). In Shona culture, iyo is a pronoun that is used to denote animals and non-human beings. Further, Mazhindu emotionally abuses Mberi when he addresses him as 'Bobjaan' (P. 7) and as 'gugo' (P. 7). Bobjaan is a type of a spanner. Therefore by calling him 'bobjaan' Mazhindu is telling Mberi that he is less than a human being. Using the term bobjaan Mazhindu reduces Mberikwazvo to a mere instrument which is there for use by him and the other colonial masters in Rhodesia. Mazhindu calls Mberikwazvo 'gugo' It seems Mazhindu fails to pronounce the Shona word 'gudo'. In Shona, gugo is meaningless. However, in that same language, the word gudo refers to a baboon. By calling Mberi 'gudo' (baboon) Mazhindu implies that Mberi is not a human being but is rather a barbaric animal. The verbal abuse is tantamount to emotional abuse. That emotional abuse amounts to psychological harm and damage. In addition to suffering psychological harm and damage, Nberikwazvo suffers physical harm when Mazhindu slaps him hard on the mouth and when Mazhindu kicks him and perfunctorily hacks him. When he is hacked down, Mberikwazvo falls with a thud and suffers serious physical damage. Mawaya, who is Mberikwazo's nephew, reports Mberi to the police testifying falsely against him that he had invited the guerrillas from Mozambique to come to Zaka and cause havoc. When he is reported to the Rhodesian police force, Mberikwazvo is tortured beyond reasonable limits. Some two anonymous members of the police force are given orders by their boss to batter him for some time. They kick him, box him and pierce him with a needle up to until Mberikwazvo passes out. When he recovers, Mberikwazvo is slapped hard by the Member-in-charge of the police force. The writer says that, '?vakagarwa mbama napamuromo chaipo ropa rikatangisa kujuja' (?he was slapped hard on the mouth and blood started oozing), (P. 26). Before long, Mberikwwazvo is made to suffer a series of physical and mental torture at the hands of the police sergeant Johane. At one time Johane slaps Mberikwazvo on his head. Sergeant Johane also orders his men to switch on a certain electric gadget, after which he orders them to use the gadget to cause some several atrocious burns on Mberi's body. Above all, Sergeant Johane pushes the nozzle of an unloaded gun into Mberikwazvo's mouth after which he lets go the trigger of the gun. When he lets go the trigger, Mberikwazvo passes out for the second time. When he has passed out, he is taken to the hospital where he later recovers from the unconscious state. As a result of that incident, Mberikwazvo develops a hearing impairment. What should be noted is that, Mberikwazvo is brutally tortured for the mere reason that he refuses to consent to the false accusation leveled against him. After he is made to suffer all that torture, Mberikwazvo is then sent to remand prison where he is finally released on the understanding that he is not guilty of the offences that are being leveled against him. The other people who suffer physical harm and psychological torment in Zvaida Kushinga include the combatants. Gabarinocheka. Gabarinocheka is a member of Comrade Shingirirai's platoon. He dies during a contact with the enemy soldiers. In Zvaida Kushinga, a considerable number of the members of the Rhodesian front force also die during contacts. When Mberikwazvo is still in remand prison, the guerrillas bomb the nearby police camp. As a result of the bombing, a lot of police officers die. Some of them lose their body limbs. Sergeant Johane is among those who lose some body limbs. In fact, he loses both legs. In Zvaida Kushinga, Makari proposes his own methods of healing the emotional and physical harm the Zimbabwean people suffered during the war and in the early moments of colonial contact. Mberikwazvo, his son Mosses, his nephew Marufu and members of the general public are proponents of different methods that can be used to heal the harm that was suffered by the people during the war of liberation. The masses advocate retroactive and reactive forms of justice to the whole issue. The retroactive and reactive forms of justice which they lobby for have roots in quasi-revolutionary democracy, which this chapter views as a form of a 'lopsided capitalism' (Mazrui, 1993, and2004). They feel what happened in the past should determine the way forward. They also feel that, since the whites robbed the black people of their land independence should be that time when the masses should be allowed to grab the land from the white commercial farmers. Soon after the war and at a special gathering at Mberikwazvo's home, the masses have this to say to Moses Mberikwazvo who is addressing them, 'Ngaatiudze kuti tichatora mapurazi avaRungu riini?' (Let him tell us when we are going to repossess white commercial farms), (P. 78). Therefore, making reference to the land issue, the masses advocate the policy of restitution. That is interpreted to be the case, since they lobby for the restoration of the pre-colonial status quo. In the novel, Mberikwazvo, seems to go through some form of metamorphoses in his seeking to come up with a method for healing the harm the people suffered at the very first moments of colonial contact and during the liberation struggle. In the first place, he upholds retroactive -cum-reactive justice. He revisits the events of the 1st Chimurenga with a view of wishing to call upon Zimbabweans to regain what they were robbed of by the white colonialists. Therefore, for Mberikwazvo, the memory of history is more important than forgetting that history especially when Zimbabweans seek to enforce national healing and to enforce reparation. In fact, Mberikwazvo believes that, Kana tatora nyika, vose vatema vangava mumutambaratede. Misha yose ingaita tawindi. Zvose zvimatangwaza zvoputswa tovakirwa sedziya dzinogara vachena. Minda tinorimisa netarakita. Magetsi oita unyanyanya kwose kwose. Mvura tichatekera mudzimba ichiuyiswa nembombi (When we finally attain independence all the black people will enjoy untold luxury. They will experience town life wherever they will be staying. The old huts in which people are currently housed will be destroyed as the government will build new houses for them that are similar to those which belong to white people. We will use tractors to till our fields. Electricity will be supplied in every home. We will also enjoy taped water in our homes), (P. 9). In the quotation, Mberikwazo seems to be reasoning from the idea that, "political freedom without economic freedom is a fallacy" (Nkurumah cited in wa Ngugi, 1983: 118). Be that as it may, Mberikwazvo does not maintain a trajectory of thought. He quickly shifts his focus. In no time, he stops lobbying for retroactive justice and starts lobbying for the politics of punishing the perpetrators of harm before finally forgetting the harm they caused. The sort of justice that results from the politics of 'punish and forget' is tantamount to reactive justice. When Mberikwazvo is humiliated by Mazhindu's son (John) whom he once baby sit, he thinks it was better if he had killed him in his infancy. That marks how much Mberikwazvo is advancing the idea of a tooth-for-a-tooth and an eye-for-an-eye type of justice. That same line of thinking is also evident when at one moment Mberikwazvo wishes the death of all the police officers who had brutalized him. The writer says that, 'Kana uri mwoyo waVaMberi wakafara kwazvo kuti dai vavengi vavo vose vangowana chavawana' (In his heart, VaMberi wished his enemies dead in the bombings that had been carried out by the guerrillas), (P. 34). Therefore, his vision of revolutionary democracy is taken over by a strong desire to have his persecutors punished. Before long, Mberi shifts from this view of 'punish and forget' and upholds the idea of 'forgive and/or pardon and forget' as the method for healing the wounds he has incurred in the raging war. The same view is lobbied for by both Moses Mberikwazvo and Marufu. What should be remembered is that at independence, it was the Lancaster House Constitution which was in operation. That constitution emphasized the need for the politics of 'pardon and forget' to take precedence over the politics of the memory of history and of retroactive justice. As such, by calling upon Zimbabweans to forgive one another and forget their past differences, Marufu, Mbeikwazvo and Moses seem to be approving of the Lancaster House constitutional justice. The idea of upholding the politics of 'forgive and forget' as a healing device to the wounds of the war, surfaces in thee novel when Mberi forgives his number one abuser and persecutor sergeant Johane. The writer says that, Sajeni Johane akanga agurwa makumbo ose. Haana kukwanisa kuzarura maziso ake. Mutana (Mberikwazvo) akapfigawo ake maziso akatanga kusvimha misodzi. Vakamunzwira tsitsi nemwoyo wavo wose (Sergeant Johane had his both legs fractured. He did not open his eyes. The old man (Mberikwazvo) closed his eyes too and he started to shade tears. He felt pity for sergeant Johane with all his heart) (p. 34-5). Mberikwazvo forgives Johane although Johane has caused him to experience serious emotional and physical harm. His behavior seems to be guided by the biblical view that is paraded in Isaiah 1 vs 18). He sheds off the memory of how he has been brutalized by Johane and the other police officers. After shedding that off, Mberikwazvo loads his mind with the two concepts of 'pardon the enemy and forget the ills of the war'. Although he has wished for the death of his enemies before he comes to where poor Johane is lying, Mberikwazvo decides to forgive him upon discovering his calamity. Therefore, he moves away from reactive justice to the Lancaster House constitutional justice of pardon, forgive and reconcile. When Mberikwazvo learns that, it is his nephew Mawaya, who had reported him to the police testifying falsely against him, he is ready to forgive him. Mberi says that, 'Mose munoziva kuti ane benzi ndeane rake, kudzana anopururudza. Mawaya, muzukuru wangu, nyoka huru haizvirumi, ini ndinomuregerera.' (You all know that if you have a fool in your home, it is yours when it dances in whatever manner you ululate. Mawaya is my nephew -a huge snake does not bite itself), (P. 55), Making references to some two Shona proverbs Mberikwazvo pronounces a message of forgiveness to Mawaya. The proverbs are: Ane benzi ndeane rake, rikadzana anopururudza and Nyoka huru haizvirumi. The proverbs in question connote to the idea that if a wrong is committed against an individual by a close kin he/she does not have to retaliate. Therefore, it is like, Mberikwazvo resorts to the use of the communal philosophy of life to make sure pardon and forgiveness overcome memory of history and the need to uphold retributive justice in post-independence Zimbabwe. The ideology of 'forgive and forget' is also advocated by Marufu. Marufu is a former member of the Rhodesian police force. He is also a brother to Mawaya and a nephew to both Mberikwazvo and his son Moses. In order to pronounce a message of forgiving enemies and of forgetting war calamities to the gathered members of the Mberikwazvo community, Marufu employs an allegorical remark. He says that, 'Nezuro?ndakanyatsoona mapere akarara muchirugu chimwe chete nembudzi. Handiti inenji guru nhai hama dzangu?' (Yesterday?I witnessed an amazing scene. I saw hyenas sharing accommodation with goats. Aren't that a shocking reality?), (P. 78). Without much ado, Marufu interprets his allegorical remark in this way, Asi chishamiso chakaitika mwedzi wapera hamuchizivi? Ndiani pano pamuri aimbofunga kuti makomuredhi namasoja achagara pasi achitaurirana? Chionaika nhasi uno Moses naMarufu vari kugamuchidzana mikombe yehwahwa vachipira midzimu yavo pamwe chete?gore rakapera iro ndiri kuMount Darwin ndakaridzirana pfuti nasekuru vangu vagere apa. Ko taizviita sei? Takanga tiri mukati mehondo (Don't you know an amazing event that took place last month? Who among you ever thought that comrades (ZANLA combatants) and soldiers (Rhodesian Front soldiers) will sit down and discuss matters in harmony? See now, Marufu and Moses are sharing beer and are appeasing their ancestors together?last year but one, when I was in Mount Darwin, we were involved in a contact with my uncle (Moses) who is sitting next to me. What else could we do? We were in a war), (P. 78). Rhodesian Front soldiers and between all the parties that were fighting against one another during the protracted and bloody liberation struggle. Moses Mberikwazvo also advocates 'pardon and forget' as the way forward after the war. After he narrates how much some preposterous renegade ZANLA combatants caused a lot of bloodshed in Mozambique, especially at Chimoio and Tembwe bases, and how he had narrowly escaped from the attacks, Moses concludes that, 'Handina kumbofa ndakavenga mhandu dziya dzaida kupfuudza upenyu hwangu. Takakanganwirana nemwoyo wose' (I did not come to hate my enemies who wanted to kill me. We have forgiven each other with all our hearts), (P. 79). Moses also says to the people, 'Vabereki, regereranai zvvose zvikanganiso zvomuhondo. Tose takanga tiri pakati pokutsvaka gwanza raizotisvitsa murusununguko', (Parents, forgive each other of the wrongs committed during the liberation struggle. We were all struggling to crack an avenue to independence), (P. 79). In that way, Moses acts like a political scientist who is schooling the masses to drop their call for reactive and retroactive justice and to start upholding the principles of forgiving their enemies and forgetting the wrongs that were committed against them during the war. V. # Vavariro (The Aim) In Vavariro, the civilians that are giving support to the ZANLA combatants in the liberation struggle suffer sexual, physical and psychological harm. Charira, who is a kraal-head in the novel, reports that members of the Rhodesian Front army battered people and raped women in the Pfungwe area. He says that, 'Kuno handisati ndaona zvavanoita, asi kuPfungwe ndiko ndakanzwa kuti kuri kurohwa vanhu namasoja uyezve vasikana vari kubatwa repukesi', (Here, I have not seen what they are really doing. However, I have heard that it is at Pfungwe area where people are battered by the enemy soldiers and where girls are raped by them), (P. 14). One of the main characters in Vavariro is Chimoto. Chimoto says to Tumirai, who is a ZANLA combatant and a platoon commander, 'Ko vakambogara here? Twakasvika ndokubata chibharo Vasikana vokuna Mugai ndokubva twaenda' (Did they stay anywhere? They (enemy soldiers) simply raped some girls of Mugai area and quickly left), (P. 123). Rape is a '?tasteless and violent crime?[it is not] a crime of sex or a matter of choice but a crime of violence committed against?an unwilling victim' (Howse Dunton and Marshall cited in Charamba, 2011: 131). Therefore rape accumulates to both emotional and physical harm of the targeted victim. In Vavariro, some civilians are killed in the war of liberation. Charira and his wife are killed by members of the Rhodesian Front army. After killing husband and wife, the soldiers in question burn down their family home and kill most of their livestock. Pita Bango is shot dead by Jeri Charira. Pita is a member of the Rhodesian police force whilst Jeri is a mujibha (male war collaborator). Bango, who is Pita's father, is killed by members of Tumirai's platoon for selling them out to the Rhodesian army officers. Some nearly hundred guerrillas are killed at Nhakiwa Growth Point by the Rhodesian forces. A lot of the members of the Rhodesian Front forces are killed during different contacts. The contact at Katsvuku alone, leads to the death of a considerable number of them. Six of them are killed during a contact that takes place at a place that is nearer to Kamureza Base. A lot more die at the contact that takes place at Nhakiwa Growth Point when Tumirai and the other platoon commanders in the area organize to revenge the Rhodesian soldiers for having killed guerrillas that nearly totaled one hundred. Acts of sabotage that lead to loss of material and to traumas are common in the war. A white commercial farmer by the name Jeki incurs loss when Jeri and the other war collaborators burn down his grocery shop. Dereki, another white commercial farmer, has his cattle poisoned by the war collaborators after which they die in great numbers. A lot of people are battered in the war. Charira is thoroughly beaten by Pita Bango for taking sides with the ZANLA forces. Tapera is apprehended by Rhodesian soldiers. The soldiers beat him thoroughly before they send him to Chikurubi Maximum Prison. Tsitsi's mother is slapped hard on the cheek and is brutally kicked by a white Rhodesian soldier. As a result of the slap and the kick on her back, she ends up suffering both a terrible headache and a terrible backache. Members of the Support Unit beat people. Kufa informs Tumirai that members of the Support Unit squad had battered Chimoto and a number of women and that as a result of the battering they were all nursing swollen faces and serious wounds. Choto depicts different methods which different people propose for use in trying to heal the wounds incurred during the liberation struggle. He establishes some two dominant viewpoints that are held by different people on how the wounds ought to be healed. Those viewpoints seem to run parallel to each other in the novel. Choto presents the first viewpoint as being lobbied for by the majority of Zimbabweans who took part in the liberation struggle. He also depicts the other viewpoint lobbied for by both the new elitist leaders of Zimbabwe and the former colonial masters. The masses advocate retroactive-cum-reactive justice. That justice is a form of justice that seeks to bring about reparation and not reconciliation. Their view seems to be guided by their memory of the brutal effects of the colonial legal instruments such as the Land Apportionment Act and by the harm they suffered during the war. Choto seems to suggest that, the masses cannot do away with the memory of history, as such they cannot tolerate the politics of 'pardon and forget'. In other words the masses do not approve of the demands of the Lancaster House Constitution. Therefore, they struggle to oppose constitutional justice that is spread and exalted in the Lancaster House constitution. It is Chimoto's mother, old as she is, who is used by the novelist to spell out the agenda of the masses in the struggle for independence. The old granny says that, 'Vachena ngavafe. Hatidi kuvaona muno. Ngavadzokere kwavo kuHingirandi kunonhuhwa nhamo' (Let the whites die. We do not want to see them in Zimbabwe. Let them go back to England where poverty is rampant), (P. 26). She believes that the aim of the war of liberation is either to kill the white people or to evacuate them from Zimbabwe. Therefore, using the old granny, Choto demonstrates that reconciliation is not an option for healing the wounds of the struggle for independence to members of the civilian population. For them the healing of the brutalities of colonialism can only come through violence and through evacuating the whites from Zimbabwe. For Tumirai and the other elites, violence is not meant to ostracise the whites but is resorted to simply as a method of teaching them to Accept that, although they are staying in Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe is not a white people's country. Tumirai says that, 'Tinofanirwa kuonesa vachena nhamo?Tinofanirwa kuvarwadzisa kuti vazive kuti nyika haisi yavo' (We should cause the whites to suffer?We should make sure they suffer until they come to realise that Zimbabwe does not belong to them), (P. 28). Tumirai'/s political philosophy simply helps to clear the ground for reconciliation between the whites and the blacks when independence is finally attained. Choto suggests that, when the people were informed at independence of the agreements made at the Lancaster House, among which was the need to uphold the policies of reconciliation and of the land distribution exercise based on the willing-seller-willingbuyer approach, they opposed them. In opposing them, they also opposed the Lancaster House constitutional justice. Kanyuchi says that, 'Chete zvinhu zvine makonisitusheni mukati izvi zvine chikuruku' (It's only that things that have to do with constitutions involve a lot of foul play), (P. 145). Choto further emphasizes how much the masses were against constitutional democracy when Kanyuchi further says that, 'Ndizvo ndiri kuti?zvamakonisitusheni izvi hazvina nebasa rese zviya. Chipepa chinonetsei, tinochibvarura?' (I have already said that, constitutional justice is of no use. Can we suffer headaches because of a mere paper? We can just tear it off?), (P. 145).Therefore, Kanyuchi and the constituency he is representing do not have any respect for a constitution that lobbies for pardoning the enemy and forgetting the atrocities they suffered throughout their history. To demonstrate how much the masses did not have respect for constitutional democracy, Choto depicts members of the the Chimoto and Kanyuchi families illegally resettling themselves at Dereki's farm soon after the liberation struggle. Just because they now 'own' Dereki's farm and farm house, Chimoto and Kanyuchi feel they are enjoying genuine independence from colonial encroachment. At one moment Kanyuchi says that, 'Tiri kutonga zvechokwadi muZimbabwe. Dzimba dzanaDereki nhasi uno dzava dzedu.' (Truly, it's we who are ruling in Zimbabwe. The houses that used to belong to Dereki and other white people are now ours), (P. 149). Thereforee, for Kanyuchi, genuine independence is marked by grabbing white commercial farms and homesteads. Whilst the masses speak against constitutional democracy by speaking against reconciliation, the elites impose a top-down constitutional justice that upholds the politics of 'pardon and forget'. In Choto'/s Vavariro the man, who represents Uzumba District in the House of Assembly, is Nhamoyetsoka. Nhamoyetsoka informs members of the Chimoto and Kanyuchi families that a white member of parliament, who represents Mazowe area in the national assembly, had reported that there were people who were illegally settled at Dereki's farm. As such, he tells the members that he has come to give them eviction orders. The members of the two families vehemently defy his eviction orders. After a period of about three months of disobeying authority, to their chagrin, members of the Chimoto and Kanyuchi families are forcefully evicted from Dereki's farm by members of the Zimbabwean Republic Police who are armed with button sticks, guns and police dogs. Out of discontentment with constitutional justice that is forcefully imposed on the masses, Chimoto decides to visit Tumirai, the former ZANLA forces platoon commander. Soon after the war, Tumirai is elected a member of the new Zimbabwean parliament. During the liberation struggle, Tumirai had promised the masses that once they win the war and attain independence, they will be entitled to all the white men's farms. However, after the war, just like most elitist leaders, Tumirai is now a strong advocate of constitutional justice that demands reconciliation between members of the formerly fighting parties. Because of his being a strong advocate of the Lancaster House constitutional democracy, when Chimoto narrates how the members of the two families were evicted from Dereki's farm, Tumirai asks Chimoto this question: 'Aika, ko zvanga zvaita sei kunogara papurazi paDereki?' (Oh, why did you dare to go and settle at Dereki's farm?), (P. 154). Chimoto answers him, 'Handiti ndimi makatiudza kuti kana hondo yapera tichanogara mumapurazi avachena?' (Aren't you the ones who told us that we were going to resettle at the white men's commercial farms as soon as the war would be over?), (P. 154). When he feels totally cornered by Chimoto, Tumirai simply says, 'zvose zvakaitika muhondo ngatizvikanganwe nokuti tave mune imwe nguva' (Let's forget all that which took place during the war since we are now in a new era of history), (P. 154). With these words, Tumirai is trying to push Chimoto to forget the course of history and to shy away retrospective justice and to accept constitutional democracy. When Chimoto continues to lobby for the politics of memory and revolutionary democracy, Tumirai silences him with these words, 'Chokwadi chiripo ndechokuti munhu bvuma kugamuchira zvinodiwa nenguva yauri' (The truth is, one should learn to accept the demands of the time in which he/she finds himself/herself), (P. 157). With those words Tumirai is coercively imposing on Chimoto the hegemonic constitutional justice that is based on forgetting the harm suffered by Zimbabweans during the colonial period and during the war. What all that means is; the elites shifted goal posts soon after the war. They spoke of the politics of memory and of the remembrance of colonial harm and of the need for reparation during the war yet after the war they began to talk about politics of reconciliation based on 'pardon and forget'. Judging from what Choto portrays in Vavariro, it seems politics of forgiving and forgetting seems to have benefited the elite who, after the war, acquired high positions in government and in the army, In Vavariro such elites are represented by Tumirai, Nhamoyetsoka, Jeri, Tsitsi and others. After the war, most of them are depicted in Vavariro putting own very expensive suits, driving expensive cars (Mercedes Benz), and living in magnificent houses. The masses, who hoped that their benefits were going to come with the politics of the memory of history and with the punishing of their enemies, remain miserable, poor and backward. From the reading of the three works of fiction under study, it seems the popular healing strategies that are advocated in Zimbabwe by different groups of people are only two. They include: i) forgiving enemies and forgetting the wounds of the war ll) punishing those who perpetuated harm on others through; killing and evacuating them and through grabbing their material gains and then forget about the harm. The two are discussed in this chapter. # VI. The Politics of Forgive/Pardon and Forget The concepts of forgiving and forgetting the harm and traumas of the war are advocated in 'Maokizarari' in Zvaida Kushinga and in Vavariro. In 'Maokizirari', that idea is reiterated by the eighteen year old girl who suffers rape at the hands of some two auxiliary forces. The girl concludes: 'Nhasi uno ndinofara zvangu. Chikuru chandinotenda ndechokuti nyika yedu yairwirwa tava nayo' (Today, I am happy. What I am grateful of is that the country that was being fought for is now in our hands), (P. 184). What that means, is for Mlambo, it is Zimbabwe's attainment of independence that should lead the people of Zimbabwe to forgive their enemies and to forget the brutalities they suffered during the liberation struggle. In Zvaida Kushinga the idea of forgiving enemies and forgetting the harm of the war is advocated by Mberikwazvo, Marufu and Moses. Mberikwazvo views the basis for forgiving enemies and forgetting the harm they caused to the masses to be twofold. In the first place, for Mberikwazvo, the concept of 'forgive and forget' lies in humanitarian considerations. Although sergeant Johane is Mberi's chief persecutor, he feels pity for him when he finds him with his both legs fractured. It seems humanitarian consideration leads Mberi to forgive the helpless Johane. Mberikwazvo also considers kinship ties to be one other root of forgiving enemies and forgetting their trespasses. He forgives Mawaya for selling him out to the Rhodesian police on the understanding that Mawaya is his nephew. Due to the fact that blood is thicker than water, Makari sees forgiving and forgetting as inevitable in a war in which at times close kinsmen fought against one another. For Mosses and Marufu, forgiving and forgetting lies on the idea that, in the liberation struggle, no one was right since during the struggle everybody was seeking to crack the right path to independence. That is why Moses says that, 'Vabereki, regereranai zvvose zvikanganiso zvomuhondo. Tose takanga tiri pakati pokutsvaka gwanza raizotisvitsa murusununguko' (Parents, forgive each other of the wrongs committed during the liberation struggle. We were all struggling to crack an avenue to independence), (P. 79). The concept of 'forgive and forget' was made constitutional at the Lancaster House Conference that took place just before Zimbabwe attained political independence. That concept of 'forgive and forget' was pronounced by Robert Mugabe, the first Prime Minister of Zimbabwe when he said that, Our new nation requires of every one of us to be a new man, with a new mind, a new heart and a new spirit?Is it not folly therefore, that in these circumstances anybody should seek to revive the wounds and grievances of the past? The wrongs of the past must now stand forgiven and forgotten...(as cited in Chigidi 2009: 207). Therefore, writers who popularize the politics of 'forgive and forget' as the pillar of reconciliation and reparation uphold the demands of the new Zimbabwean Lancaster House constitution. What that means is those writers celebrate constitutional justice. Upholding the policy of 'forgive and forget' is not unique to Zimbabwe and Africa. After their wars of liberation, ?both Uruguay and Argentina preferred to shift from trying and punishing to forgiving and forgetting. These governments, with a great deal of international support, decided either to interrupt or not to initiate legal procedures against those responsible for atrocious crimes (Duvenage, 2008: 513). The ideas of "forgiving, forgetting and amnesty" were also employed in the Republics of South Africa and Kenya. At the end of the Mau Mau Revolution of Kenya, the fighting parties, just like in the case of Zimbabwe, had to attend a Lancaster House Conference in England. The Conference ended up with a constitutional resolution to advocate the policy of 'forgive and forget" with the aim of reconciling former enemies. The new South African government and the post-independence Chilean government, resorted to the use of 'truth and reconciliation' as a strategy of bringing about the principle of 'forgetting' the harms incurred during their wars of liberation and the cruel side of the history of colonialism and apartheid. The Truth and Reconciliation Commissions appointed in those two countries were, ?to deal with the thorny issues of 'historical truth,' on the one hand, and amnesty, reconciliation, and reparation, on the other. The aim was thus not to prosecute political leaders for crimes against humanity, but to secure a public recognition of the breaching of human rights in the past within the framework of an agreement on political amnesty?this implies a qualified concept of justice (Duvenage, 2008: 512). Generally speaking the idea of 'forgive and forget', which in most cases promotes constitutional justice, has its own advantages to nation building. If the principle of 'forgive and forget' is taken over by the principle of 'punish and forget' it will prove costly to a nation. In the first place punishment will only come after trial. What that means is a lot of resources will be channeled towards the courts of law in order for them to try such cases. At the end of it all, that exercise will 'bog down the courts for many years to come' (Duvanage, 2008: 513). One other thing to note is that, corrective and reactive forms of justice are past oriented whilst 'constitutional justice is future-oriented, systematic and consolidatory' (Duvenage, 2008: 513). Therefore, constitutional justice is critical to nation building and to fashioning the future of a newly independent state. Whilst upholding constitutional justice is attractive, still, it is vital to grapple with the reasons characters give in support of constitutional justice before we totally approve of politics of forgiving the enemy and forgetting the atrocities he committed to the colonized majority. The girl character in 'MaOkizirari' approves of the politics of 'forgive and forget' on the understanding that in spite of the harm she suffered, Zimbabweans have attained independence. If the form of independence Zimbabwe and other African countries attained at the end of their liberation struggles is genuine then it might be necessary to forgive the enemy and forget the wrongs he committed. However, if that form of independence is not genuine independence, then the principle of 'forgive and forget', which the girl proposes, becomes irrelevant to Zimbabwe and to the other African countries that under went protracted liberation struggles to attain independence. There is a host of scholars who are of the view that the type of independence African countries attained from western countries is not genuine. wa Thiongo (1986: 7) calls the form of independence which was attained by African societies, 'independence with a question mark'. He concludes thus since he views that form of independence as '?independence with the ruler holding a begging bowl and the ruled a shrinking belly' (1986: 7). With those words, wa Thiongo seems to be suggesting that political independence without an economic flavour is an independence of hungering and thirsting for basic economic resources and materials that are needed to satisfy human wants and needs. Ngara (1985: 26) advocates the same view when he says that, But nationalism does not necessarily lead to a genuine transformation of society because the national bourgeoisie often steps into the boots of the departed colonialists, maintaining the same old system and introducing only cosmetic changes, while working in alliance with the international bourgeoisie who control the economy from a distance. So the workers and peasants, who hoped to benefit from national independence continue to be exploited under a new form of colonialism -neocolonialism. Ngara's view is the one which Choto puts forward in Vavariro. In Vavariro the elites like Nhamoyetsoka, Tumirai and other s, who sit in the National Assembly, work together with the former white colonialists such as the new member of Parliament for Mazowe District to make sure the majority of Zimbabweans do not enjoy what they fought for, especially the arable land to practice sound agriculture. In her anthology of poetry, On the road again, Nyamubaya reiterates the same view. In her poem 'The dog and the hunter', she presents the elitist rulers of post-independence Zimbabwe as the hunters and the ex-combatant, who gnashed his/her teeth at the battle front in Zimbabwe, as the dog. The former used the latter to acquire "game" which he later enjoys alone after independence. Nyamubaya presents and understands this scenario to be totally unjust since it is the dog and not the hunter that acquired the game. Having discovered, during his life time, how much African independence is not genuine independence, Nkurumah concluded that, 'political freedom without economic freedom is a fallacy' (cited in wa Ngugi, 1983: 108). Therefore, Nkurumah called Africa's era of independence neocolonialism. wa Thiongo (1981: 24) defines neocolonialism as, ?the continued economic exploitation of Africa's total resources and Africa's labour power by international monopoly capitalism through continued creation and encouragement of subsequent weak capitalistic economic structures captained or overseered by a native ruling class in the political sphere. When they discovered that political independence without economic empowerment is a fallacy, Zimbabweans took part in the3rd Chimurenga from the year 2000. The 3 rd Chimurenga was aimed at grabbing land from the white commercial farmers for the purposes of redistributing it to the majority of the black Zimbabweans. If that is the case, it might not be worthy for a writer such as Mlambo to allow his characters to advocate the politics of 'forgive and forget' on the understanding that all the wrongs committed by the colonialists and their allies have to be forgotten since Zimbabweans are enjoying independence. A writer like Mlambo, who lobbies for 'pardon and forget' as the healing ointment to the scars and gashes of colonialism and of the liberation struggle seems to be writing from the point of view of political amateurishness. Mberikwazvo believes that, since both the enemies and the people suffered grievous harm during the liberation struggle, it is human consideration that should lead the people of his area to forgive the colonialists and forget whatever wrong they committed against them. Therefore, he speaks like an advocate of liberal humanism, of universal brotherhood and sisterhood. That becomes evident when he forgives sergeant Johane, his number 1 persecutor. The behavior of Mberikwazvo, reduces the novel Zvaida Kushinga to a piece of liberal humanist literature. wa Thiongo (1981) has lambasted liberal literature. For wa Thiongo (1981: 22) liberal literature is rooted in Christian doctrines. It always preaches 'humility, and forgiveness and non-violence to the oppressed? ' (1981: 22). Its aim being that of 'weaken[ing] the resistance of the oppressed classes? ' (1981: 22). Therefore, liberal literature perpetuates colonial brutality in a subtle way since it hides inimical acts committed against some individuals by others in pseudo types of universal brotherhood and sisterhood. Makari should come to realize that, the concepts of, a human face, universal brotherhood and universal sisterhood cannot be practiced in utmost good faith outside genuine economic reparation. At the end of it all, one discovers that, although constitutional justice is future-oriented, systematic and consolidatory, it has the potential to perpetuate the lop-sided economic status quo which the people of Zimbabwe struggled to reverse. Therefore, it serves as a stepping stone to neocolonialism. Marufu and Moses lobby for the policy of 'forgive and forget' on the understanding that the liberation struggle was just like a dark tunnel in which everyone was groping in search of a ray of light and a way out. As such they believe each contesting party was seeking a way out of darkness. That is why Moses says, Vabereki, regereranai zvvose zvikanganiso zvomuhondo. Tose takanga tiri pakati pokutsvaka gwanza raizotisvitsa murusununguko (Parents, forgive each other of the wrongs committed during the liberation struggle. We were all struggling to crack an avenue to independence), (P. 79). Probably Makari is just eager to celebrate the demands of the Lancaster House constitution without understanding of how much connected are politics and economics in the African continent. His call for the implementation of the policy of 'forgive and forget' in Zimbabwe 'reduces his novel to a mere endorsement of official ZANU (PF) Post-independence policies' (Chigidi, 2009: 206). The truth is, during the liberation struggle, the Zimbabwean masses were not struggling in the dark since they were quite aware of what they wanted to achieve at the end of the struggle. In Zvaida Kushinga, VaMberi talks of the need to regain the lost land. In Vavariro, by going to illegally resettle at Dereki's farm immediately after the war, members of the Chimoto and Kanyuchi families demonstrate that they know what they were fighting for. Makari's idea that Zimbabwean people ought to forgive each other due to the fact that, during the war no one had the vision on how to proceed into the future after the war, makes caricature out of those who fought to reverse colonial brutalities that were rampant in Zimbabwe before independence. This discussion has revealed that, the politics of 'pardon and forget' cannot heal the wounds that people sustained during the war, since that sort of politics seeks not to promote but to militate against the attainment of the goals of the liberation struggle. # VII. The Politics of 'Punish and Forget' The eighteen-year old girl in the short story 'MaOkizirari' believes in the punishment of those who perpetrated harm during the war. In that short story the girl starts to become happy when she learns that the two auxiliary forces, who had raped her and who had killed four of her family members, have been sentenced to death. Therefore, it is like she is approving, punish by death of the perpetrators of harm during the war, as the healing strategy to the wounds of the war. After he is humiliated by John Mazhindu, VaMberi feels it is better if he had killed him when he was still an infant. When the guerrillas bomb the police camp, VaMberi wished the death of all the police officers who had persecuted him. In Vavariro, the masses believe; it is punishment by death and by the evacuation of perpetrators of violence and harm that can potentially heal the wounds on their bodies and at their souls. Chimoto's mother sums it all when she says that, 'Vachena ngavafe. Hatidi kuvaona muno' (Let the whites die. We do not want to see them in Zimbabwe), (P. 26). As a healing strategy to the wounds of the war and of colonial proceedings, the police of 'Punish and forget' can be worthy to some extent since it leads to reactive and retrospective forms of justice and to the attainment of the principle of restitution. The retrospective form of justice is usually arrived at when people revisit brutal events in their history and try to amend them. Therefore, retrospective justice benefits from the memories of history and not from the politics of forgetting those memories. The idea of punishing the perpetrators of harm has roots in violence. Therefore, in the politics of 'punish and forget', it is violence which is the healing ointment to the wounds of the war. The idea of holding violence as having the capacity to heal the wounded souls and bodies of the oppressed people is no where more pronounced than in both Fanon (1967) and wa Thiongo (1981). At one time Fanon (1967: 68) says that, 'The colonized man finds his freedom in and through violence.' Since he fells that the colonized man finds freedom in and through violence, Fanon says that, 'the colonialist understands nothing but force,' (1967: 66). Therefore, Fanon further feels that, for the colonized, 'To work means to work for the death of the settler' (1967: 67). Whilst reactive justice, that results from punishing the culprits, can potentially heal the colonized population, it has its weaknesses as a method of healing the harm committed against the formerly oppressed. In the first place, the desire to punish may introduce irrational proceedings in issues of the state. When it got to power in 1975, the new government of Mozambique did not tolerate the presents of Portuguese settlers. Most of the Portuguese settlers left the country in haste. As such they made sure the economy would not tick after their departure. Therefore, they caused industrial and other machinery to become dysfunctional just before they left the country. That caused Mozambique to become very poor. Up to this day, Mozambique is among some of the poorest countries in Southern Africa. That being the case, the policy of 'kill and evacuate' can have detrimental effects on the economy of a country that would have just attained political independence. If the politics of violence, that emerges from the principle of 'punish and forget', is not correctly implemented, it can lead to what we can term 'pitfalls of skin colour consciousness' and to what Mazrui (1993Mazrui ( & 2004) ) has called Lop-sided capitalism. Pitfalls of skin colour consciousness result when the masses view their enemies to be only the white people and then consider the people of black colour to be friends. It reminds one of the animals in George Orwell's novel Animal Farm. After evacuating Mr Jones and his people from the Manor farm at the end of a revolutionary struggle, the animals become victims of what one can term 'pitfalls of two-leg-and-four-leg consciousness'. They coin the motto "two legs enemy and four legs friend". Two legs referred to human beings such as Jones and members of his company and four legs referred to the animals. The birds had to be redefined to have four legs when they are told that their wings would make up for the other two legs. The redefinition helps the birds to qualify in the group of friends. However, with the passage of time, the animals discover that, the worst enemies are some of their compatriots, especially the pigs. The pigs had four legs but they emerged their worst enemies. Therefore, the animals finally discover that their pitfalls rested in their 'two-legs-good and four-legs-bad' type of consciousness. At the end of it all, it dawned to those animals that, although they had spread and exalted in their daily lives the philosophy that all animals were equal, to their amazement, they discovered that some animals (especially the pigs) were more equal than others even though they all had four legs. In Zvaida Kushinga the enemy is the white man. That is why the masses say, 'Ngaatiudze kuti tichatora mapurazi avaRungu riini?' (Let him tell us when we are going to repossess white commercial farms), (P. 78). Varungu (white people) are the people's target of violence as they attempt to come up with a cure to the wounds they incurred during the struggle for independence. In Vavariro Kanyuhi says 'Tiri kutonga zvechokwadi muZimbabwe. Dzimba dzanaDereki nhasi uno dzava dzedu' (Truly, it's we who are ruling in Zimbabwe. Houses which formally belonged to Dereki and other white people are now ours), (P. 149). For Kanyuhi the enemies are the white people such as Dereki. It is Chimoto's mother, who actually reveals that the enemy of the black person is the white man when she says that, 'Vachena ngavafe. Hatidi kuvaona muno', (Let the whites die. We do not want to see them in Zimbabwe), (P. 26). Just like the animals in Orwell's Animal Farm, The Chimoto and Kanyuchi families later discover their pitfall. Their pitfall is that of colour consciousness. They later discover that their worst enemies are fellow black people who are working in collaboration with the former colonialists. In fact, they come to realize that their worst enemies are Nhamoyetsoka and his company who unconditionally evict them from Dereki's farm. They also come to the realization that, their other worst enemies are members of the police who, who are the machinery of the new government's hegemonic rule. Above all, they also come to discover that their other worst enemies are the likes of Tumirai, Nhamoyetsoka, Jeri, Tsitsi and the other black men and women, who amass wealth at their expense. Therefore, the idea of defining an enemy using the colour of the skin and then seek to punish that enemy does not help to heal the wounds of the war. That is all because, the black man, as Choto views it, is working in collaboration with the white man in a period of reconciliation to cause not only wounds but gashes on the bodies and at the souls of the poor peasants. Mazrui (1993: 922), says this, of the idea of a lop-sided capitalism There was first the lop-sided capitalism which African countries had inherited from the colonial era. The continent had received Western consumption patterns without Western productive techniques, Western tastes without Western performance, urbanization without industrialization, capitalist greed without capitalist discipline. It seems the masses, who have embraced Western consumption patterns without Western productive techniques, Western tastes without Western performance, urbanization without industrialization, are seeking healing in capitalist greed. That is why VaMberi believes that, Kana tatora nyika, vose vatema vangava mumutambaratede. Misha yose ingaita tawindi. Zvose zvimatangwaza zvoputswa tovakirwa sedziya dzinogara vachena. Minda tinorimisa netarakita. Magetsi oita unyanyanya kwose kwose. Mvura tichatekera mudzimba ichiuyiswa nembombi (After we gain independence, all the black people will enjoy untold luxury. They will experience town life wherever they will be staying. The huts in which people currently stay will be destroyed as the government will build them new houses similar to those which belong to white people. We will use tractors to till our fields. Electricity will be supplied in every home. We will also enjoy taped water), (P. 9). VaMberi demonstrates capitalist greed that is propelled by acute Western tastes which he is hoping to fulfill after the war.. Kanyuchi reveals his capitalist greed when he says that, 'Tiri kutonga zvechokwadi muZimbabwe. Dzimba dznaDereki nhasi uno dzava dzedu' (Truly, it's we who are ruling in Zimbabwe. Those houses which belonged to Dereki and the other white people are now ours), (P. 149). Again, the masses in Zvaida Kushinga, are suffering the effects of capitalist greed that is evidenced by their Western tastes and by their desire for urbanization outside industrialization. They say that, Ngaatiudze kuti tichatora mapurazi avaRungu riini? Ko hurumende ichatiitira chii kuti tigarewo upenyu hwakafanana nehwavaRungu vatinosweroona vachifamba nemotokari. Tinoda kuti hurumende ititengere matarakita igotivakira dzimba sedzavaRungu. Ko, hurumende ichatiisira magetsi uye mbombi dzemvura riini? (Let him tell us when we are going to repossess the white commercial farms. What is the government going to do which will help us to enjoy a good life as that which the white people are leading when they travel by motor-cars? We look forward to the government to buy tractors and to build houses for us. When is the government going to electrify our homes and when is it going to provide us with taped water?), (P. 78). Lop-sided capitalism kills revolutionary democracy. When the masses become very much uneager to work for their own benefit and simply look forward to benefit from grabbing what the white men have left behind and look forward to the government to deliver everything they need to satisfy their Western tastes and capitalist greed, the spirit of attaining revolutionary democracy will definitely varnish. If the colonialist had produced enough houses, enough farms and farm houses for everyone in Zimbabwe to benefit from, then the lop-sided capitalist system would help to heal the wounds people incurred during the war. However, the white colonialists were a minority in Zimbabwe and they produced capital and material resources that were enough for them and for their mother countries. As such, at independence not every body could benefit from the riches which had been amassed by the former colonial masters. A lop-sided capitalist economy, promotes the use of segregationist policies that will witness the elite enjoying the wealth grabbed from the former colonialist and the majority continuing to leak the wounds of the war. This happened in Zimbabwe's Third Chimurenga, the elite grabbed large farmlands and magnificent farm houses at the expense of the majority of the poor Zimbabweans. Rather than view substitution of the whites by elimination from the farms, industries and from the republic of Zimbabwe as the healing strategy to the wounds of the war, the masses should work towards revolutionary democracy. It is in the process of revolutionizing all colonial systems and structures of governance of politics and economics that the masses can benefit from the national cake. It is in the process of enforcing such a revolution, that their wounds may start to heal up. It has emerged from the discussion that, the two approaches for dealing with the harm of the war, which selected works of fiction lobby for, do not suffice. They serve to perpetuate the harm rather than heal it. Probably in their struggle to heal the wounds of the war Zimbabweans can possibly learn something from the Shona philosophy of Kuripa. In Shona culture, kuripa is used as a strategy for healing the harm committed against an individual(s) by another individual(s). # VIII. Shona People's Philosophy of Kuripa and the Healing of the Harm of the War The Shona understand that, in the process of living together people can harm one another sexually, physically and psychologically. However, they consider that to be part of life. That is why they say, 'Kutadza ndekwavanhu, Mhosva haiwiri pamuti asi pamunhu' (Committing a crime is a human act. Crimes befall on individuals and not on trees), (Haasbroek, 1980: 57). This philosophy guides the Shona people when they seek to heal the sexually, socially physically and psychologically wounded member(s) of their community. Usually healing occurs in form of enforcing reparation and reconciliation of the disputants. In that culture, it is usual that the culprit is asked to pay a fine (Kuripa muripo). That fine becomes the device for reuniting the plaintiff and the complainant, (Bourdillon, 1998: 129). Among the Shona the way to reconciling the culprit and the wounded is clear-cut. When an individual harms another individual, the wounded (complainant) approaches a relevant law-court. That law-court can be a household law-court that is presided over by the senior male member in a given family. It can be a headman's law-court that is presided over by the headman. It can also be the chief's law-court that is presided over by the chief. The choice of the law-court for the purpose of trying different cases basically depends with the issue(s) which will be at stake. However, the ultimate goal of each court is to reconcile the disputants and paying of a fine (kuripa) by the culprit is almost always centred when the Shona try to reconcile the disputants. There are Shona terms and figurative parts of speech that suggest that the way to healing a socially, sexually, physically and psychologically wounded individual is Kuripa (to pay a fine). For instance, the Shona say 'Mushonga wengozi kuripa', (The only way to appease an avenging spirit is to pay a fine). In Shona culture, if an individual kills a stranger for whatever reason, the spirit of the dead stranger is believed to have the power to come back from the world of the dead and wreak revenge on the culprit and his or her family. The avenging spirit (Ngozi) can cause illness and unprecedented deaths among members of the culprit's family. It is at that point that the Shona will advise the culprit with the words, 'Mushonga wengozi kuripa'. The Shona have the other saying, 'Muripo wengozi musoro womunhu' (A fine for appeasing an avenging spirit is a human head). By musoro womunhu (human head) the Shona refer to a human being (either a boy or a girl child). In that sense, a fine for appeasing an avenging spirit is either a boy or a girl child. If the stranger, who was killed, was a woman, her spirit will be appeased by a girl child. If he was a man, his avenging spirit will be quelled by a fine in form of a boy child. It is the musoro womunhu which will serve to appease the avenging spirit. The act will bring about reconciliation between the families of the culprit and that of the deceased. Harm committed by an individual on another individual within the domestic arena is healed by use of a fine which the Shona call makuku (hens). If an individual violates another individual in a family set up, he/she has to pay a fine (kubata makuku). Kubata makuku is to avail a hen(s). However, makuku can be something else and not always a hen. It can be a goat, a cow etc, still the Shona will just consider all those to be makuku. For instance, if a man violates his wife either sexually, physically or psychologically he has to pay a fine (anofanirwa kubata makuku). Makuku (a fine) will reconcile conflicting parties within the domestic arena. Again in a family set up, if a child harms his/her mother either physically or psychologically, he/she has to pay a fine. The Shona say, 'Ukatuka kana ukarova mai unotanda botso' (If you either scowled or beat your mother during her life time you will put on a sack when she dies). The Shona believe, if an individual causes either physical or psychological harm to his/her mother during her life time, when she dies, her spirit will enforce revenge on the culprit and his/her natal family. When that happens, the culprit has to indulge in kutanda botso. That means he/she has to put on a sack and go around homes begging for sorghum to brew beer. When he/she has got a considerable amount of sorghum, he/she brews beer that is meant for use in the appeasement of his/her mother's avenging spirit. The beer is shared between members of his/her natal family and his/her mother's people. One thing that needs to be taken note of is that, if in the process of violating his/her mother before she dies, the culprit had destroyed her material resources, such as clay pots, mats etc, he/she will be asked to provide those as a means of appeasing his/her mother's avenging spirit. Such reparative acts will bring about reconciliation between the culprit and his/her mother's avenging spirit and between the culprit and his/her mother's people. When a case is brought before the headman's or chief's court, it is tried and the culprit is usually fined in relation to the gravity of the harm he/she would have caused on the complainant. For instance if an individual is caught indulging in an adulterous relationship with another man's wife, he is usually brought before the chief's law-court. It is usual that if he pleads guilty, he is made to pay a fine. The fine is usually in form of cattle. He is also told that he will lose the woman he has engaged in an adulterous relationship with. Furthermore if that adulterous relationship had resulted in pregnancy, the culprit is told by thee court that, 'Gomba harina mwana' (a seducer of another man's wife does not claim responsibility over the resultant pregnancy and the product of that pregnancy -a child). The culprit will lose the woman, the child and he will pay a fine in form of a number of beasts. What is important to note is that the way to reconciliation in Shona culture is clear-cut. The first step is identifying the culprit. The second step is reporting the culprit to the relevant law-court. The third step is the trial of the culprit. The fourth step involves the culprit pleading guilt. The fifth step is the punishment of the culprit which comes in form of his/her having to pay a fine. After going through all the six steps, reconciliation between the culprit and his/her family and the wounded and his/her family becomes inevitable. In that way the Shona way to healing the wounded benefits from the memory of the event that led to the harm of another person. Therefore, the trial of the culprit will be based on the memory of what would have taken place during the incident that resulted in harm. That trial will lead to punishment (Kuripa) and punishment will lead to reconciliation, pardon and forgetting the harm. In the process of striking reconciliation between disputants, the Shona do not condone violence. They have a saying, 'Mhosva haitongwi nokurwa' (A crime is not tried using violence), (Haasbroek 1980: 64). They also say that, 'Kurwa kunokudza nyaya' (Violence heightens the gravity of a crime), (Haasbroek, 1980: 645). Probably, Zimbabweans should have learnt something from the philosophy of Kuripa in their quest to try and cure the wounds of the war at independence. The former colonial masters could have been taken to court and tried for the harm they caused on the people. They could be tried in batches in order to cut down costs. In the court, definitely they had to plead guilt of the brutalities they perpetrated during colonialism and during the liberation struggle. After they pleaded guilt, it was to be upon the Zimbabweans to charge them a fine in relation to the gravity of the harm they had committed on the people. The fine had to be determined by the people for the people. Representatives of the people at the courts had to deliberate on the matter from the understanding of the views of the people. The former colonialist had to pay fines first before the Zimbabweans could then pardon them and move towards a state of reconciliation. Since that did not happen in Zimbabwe, those wounds the masses, such as Kanyuchi and Chimoto suffer during the war, are not healed. At the Lancaster House Conference, the former colonial masters did not plead guilt rather they were busy lobbying for policies that favoured them. Those policies include the need to use a willing-buyer-willing-seller approach in the acquisition of the land to redistribute to the masses; the need for them to retain twenty uncontested seats in parliament and the need to uphold the policy of reconciliation based on the principle of 'forgive and forget'. Probably they behaved thus since the war was brought to a halt without both a clear winner and a clear loser. If a war comes to a halt without a clear winner and a clear loser none of the struggling parties will be ready to plead guilty. That means, there will not be a possibility of resorting to the use of the victor's justice. The principle of the victor'/s justice gives the winner the prerogative to determine the way forward. What should be taken note of is that, if none of the fighting parties loses the struggle and goes all the way to plead guilty, none of the parties will be ready to compromise more than the other in a conference, like the Lancaster House Conference or in any law-court. The result is that the fighting parties will contest for benefits in case of seeking to agree to sign for political independence. The end result is that those who will be representing the people in a conference set up, will definitely compromise the demands of the people in order to push for their own selfish goals. The other thing that will happen is that, most of the representatives of the people will join hands with the colonial masters to make sure they enjoy a life of plenty in an independence characterized by few gains. That will be the beginning of the era of neocolonialism. All what that means is, the healing of the wounds of the war does not lie in violence. Again it does not lie in rushed policies of 'punish and forget' and 'forgive and forget'. Rather it lies in the trial of culprits and in their pleading guilty and in their readiness to pay a fine (Kuripa). Just as in kutanda botso, it also lies in the victim's readiness to give back to the victimised whatever he robbed them of. What that means is, after the war, and after the colonialist had pleaded guilty they had to pay a fine to the people of Zimbabwe in form of readily giving back to the state the multifarious riches they had robbed the people of Zimbabwe of for years. The state had to put those riches to good use for the benefit of the majority. The colonial masters should also have handed over the vast pieces of arable land they owned to the state for them to be redistributed not on racial lines as what the Land apportionment Act of 1930 had legalized but on principles of democracy and good governance. # IX. # Conclusion This chapter has revealed that, writers of fiction treat the harm different people suffered in the colonial period in general and in the liberation struggle in particular. The chapter has established that, fiction writers lobby for some two basic methods of healing the harm in question. They lobby for the principle of 'punish and forget' and of 'forgive/pardon and forget". However, the chapter has discussed the two approaches in question and has established that those approaches are dysfunctional in Zimbabwe since they have the potential, to promote neocolonialism, violence, a lop-sided form of capitalism and problems that can potentially hamper nation building. The chapter lobbies for Zimbabweans in general and fiction writers in particular to borrow the concept of 'kuripa' from Shona culture when they seek to propose methods that can bee used to treat those wounds Zimbabweans incurred during the liberation struggle. Communal and Everyday Aspects of Healing in Zimbabwe * The ZAPU and ZANU guerrilla warfare and the Evangelical Luth0eran Church in Zimbabwe NBhebhe 1999 Mambo Press Gweru * The Shona Peoples: Revised edition MfcBourdillon 1998 Mambo Press Gweru * Rape among the Shona in Zimbabwe TCharamba Crimes against women DWPike New York Nova Science Publishers 2011 * A study of Shona war fiction: The writers' perspectives WLChigidi 2009 Unpublished Phd thesis: UNISA * On crossroads: Reflections on Zimbabwe's relations with Britain at the new millennium PChigora Alternatives: Turkish Journal of international relations 5 2006 * RChoto 1989 Baobab Books * The elite: The story of the Rhodesian Special Air Service 3 rd edition BCole 1985 Three Knights Publishing Durban * The politics of memory and forgetting after apartheid, in A companion to African philosophy PDuvanage K. Wiredu 2008 Blackwell Publishers Oxford * The wretched of the earth London FFanon 1967 The Chaucer Press * Nduri dzenhango dzomuZimbabwe JAHaasbroek 1980 Mambo Press Gweru * Zvaida Kushinga CSMakari 1985 Mambo Press Gweru * Towards the year AAMazrui General history of Africa -viii: Africa since 1935 AAMazrui & CWondji Paris 1993. 2000 * Power, Politics and the African condition AAMazrui 2004 Africa World Press Asmara * MaOkizirari, in Hondo yeChimurenga LPMlambo The Literature Bureau 1984 Mambo Press Gweru * Art and ideology in the African novel: A study of the influence of Marxism on African writing ENgara 1985 Heinemann Educational Books London * On the road again: Poems during and after the national liberation in Zimbabwe TVNyamubaya 1986 Zimbabwe Publishing House Harare * Conversing with Africa: The politics of change MWa Ngugi 2003 Kimaathi Publishing House Harare * Wa Thiongo Writers in politics London James Currey 1981 * Writing against neocolonialism NWa Thiongo 1986 Vita Books Wembley