By Robert Zvidza recently in Cashel Valley
Kempton Wadawatsika Mutambara, a man from Cashel Valley who acquired celebrity status through his bizarre way of life, passed on in October last year after succumbing to an unknown illness which resulted in his legs swelling.
He was 67.
The late Kempton aka Kimpy, had been suffering from the disease since April 2014.
The fiery-tempered traditionalist is known for his creepy way of life which he began about four decades ago when he ostracized himself and the family from the generality of the society. He branded everyone including relatives and neighbours enemies and traitors.
Among his many other beliefs was the fact that he did not want his children to go to school in fear of them being taught ‘wild things’. “The best teacher of a child is his parents, in schools they are taught to be traitors,” he is quoted to have said during his lifetime.
He also did not attend any funerals, church and let alone go to the shops. This, he also inculcated into his children. He is also once quoted saying that if a member of the family dies, he or she will be buried by the other family members. That aside, it is the news surrounding his death that has left the community in awe.
Ever since the late Mutambara fell ill, it is said that he never visited any medical centre even hospital preferring to be helped by traditional healers around the area. This is despite the fact that Mutambara Mission Hospital is just three kilometers away from his place of residence. His illness was also never made public as it remained the family’s closely guarded secret.
It is alleged that after Kempton realized that his health was deteriorating, he invited his confidant and uncle - Romeo Muchabayetu of Guta Village Chief Mutambara, Chimanimani whom he advised that if he dies, only his family and he would bury him at his homestead and was not supposed to inform or invite anyone including other relatives and neighbours. It is said that Kimpton emphasized that the burial would be secret and only Muchabayetu, his sons and his wife should be presiding over the burial.
Sooner or later, Kempton died and his sons Matekenya and Madzirashe reported the incident to the police and later buried their father in unusual circumstances. No villager or other relatives were invited for the burial. This reporter took the trip to Cashel Valley to find how the family lived after the death of the father.
It seems they still believe in their father’s ideologies, though there is a slight change in their pattern of life and the way they dress. This follows some donation of clothing to the family by the local police who seem to have ways of communicating with them. Though there is this relationship with the police, the Officer-In-Charge Cashel Police, Inspector Godfrey Mafaka still regards them as being very unpredictable in nature.
The Community Relations and Liaison Officer (CRLO) at Cashel Valley, Sergeant Paul Hwengwere is tasked to take us to the man’s homestead. He admits that there was indeed a slight change as the family could now put on proper clothes and could walk to the police though on very few occasions when they need help.
"They used to be very militant in nature, wear animal skins, and used to carry bows and arrows,” he said.
When this news crew approached the homestead from the eastern side, the ever-alert Matekenya was to meet us and told us to go back from where we had entered and use another entrance to the western side of the homestead. This was even though we had already reached the homestead.
“Kana murikuuya pamusha uno nzira yamahambe nayo hatiibvumiriba. Hatingoda kuona tsoka dzevanhu ndawa pane zvepo zvatakatarisa. Dzokerai ngekwamabva ndiko mundopinda ngegan’a rekoko. (If you are coming to our homestead, we don’t allow people to use this route. Go back from where you are coming from and use the other entrance to the west),” said eldest of the Mutambara siblings, Matekenya, in a heavily quoted Manyika accent.
We obliged and made a beeline out of the field and had to walk another 15 minutes to reach the said entrance. As we reach the homestead, we are made to sit at an already prepared place and the other siblings lineup to greet us and sit directly opposite us. The atmosphere is so tense that a moment of silence ensures followed by introductions by the CRLO who is already known to the family through his numerous visits to the homestead. We are introduced and we tell them we have come to pay our condolences to the late “Chief” since we knew him from a published story of him in our magazine back in 1998.
Surprisingly, the family still remembers vividly the names of those journos who came at the homestead and the dates they came. After a few discussions we then live the intimidating homestead whose yard neatly secured with reeds. The huts bear different designs including the Great Zimbabwe Ruins and Pangolins among other art and messages.
We learnt that during his lifetime, Mutambara was married to his surviving wife, Tammary Mutsau Nezandonyi and sired 10 children namely Matekenya (male) aged 46 years, twins Mwadzirasha (male) and Mwazodaani (female) aged 43 years, Marwei (female), Zwatinewenyu (female), Kuzvinera (female), Mwadzirerutsa (female), Munyavhi (male), Mukorangebhachi (male), and the late Garamuchiziva (male).
Six of the older siblings stay at the homestead and are not married though they are of adult age while the other three are said to have been forcibly removed from the home by the Department of Social Welfare.
It all started in January 1998 when Mutambara is said to have seriously assaulted one of his children Garamuchiziva, whom he accused of being lazy. His child later succumbed to the serious assault and died at the homestead after a few days. He did not even seek medical treatment even though Mutambara Hospital is close to their homestead. The late son was buried at their homestead at a funeral which was only presided upon by the family. It is said that news leaked out to the police; and a month later somehow despite the family’s intensive security system, the young man’s corpse was exhumed.
Kempton Mutambara was charged with culpable homicide and spent a year in Mutare Prison, where he was released from jail in mid-1999. The social service office represented by Miss Connie Tobaiwa in the company of armed ZRP Cashel personnel later visited Kempton Mutambara with an assignment to remove other children from him fearing for their safety following the publicized story of him having killed his son.
Kempton was bitter about the move but he calmed down after realizing that the police personnel had with them some superior firepower. He reluctantly permitted them to remove the children Mukorangebhachi, Munyavhi, and Mwadzirerutsa. Mwadzirerutsa who was the eldest was sent for rehabilitation at the National Rehabilitation Centre (London Lodge) because of her age as she had just turned 18. Munyavhi was committed to the probation hostel in Mutare while Mukorangebhachi to Forward in Faith Children’s Home and he is currently at the school of preaching. Mwadzirerutsa later got married but is said to have been disowned by the late Mutambara for having defied her rules.
When her husband wanted to pay lobola to the father, they are said to have come to Cashel Police who accompanied them to the homestead but Kempton refused to accept the bride price saying that she was now an outcast. Police officers who happened to be there on the day said that the atmosphere was tense and the other girls and the mother even wanted to snatch their sister back.
Mwadzirerutsa was to make a comeback to her home this time to pay her last respects to her late father soon after his death and again sought help of the local police who accompanied her. She is said not to have reached the homestead after an altercation between her husband and the brother.
But what is it that triggered such weird and ancient type of living?
In his interview with The Outpost in 1998, the late Mutambara said that problems began to emerge in 1971 and worsened in 1973.
“The then Melsetter (now Chimanimani) District Administrator, Mr. Peters in the company of Member-In-Charge of the then BSAP (now ZRP) Cashel, Section Officer Penfield arrived at our homestead and announced that the UDI government had decided to strip all chiefs of their chieftainship for collaborating with terrorists. The following day three police officers escorted some two men who collected his father’s chieftainship medals,” he is quoted to have said in an interview 17 years ago.
Kempton’s father got ill and passed away on the morning of July 20, 1974.
“Before he passed on that morning, my father summoned me and said to me, ‘my son Kempton, your father, I, Chief Matindike Mutambara, I am going but keep on fighting and repossess my throne stolen from me, but remember to bury me in my homestead and do not take me up the ‘Guhune or Guta Remadzishe’, a traditional burial site for the late Mutambara chiefs,” he is quoted in The Outpost 1998, February issue.
Thereafter, Kempton is said to have single-handedly buried his father at their homestead but when his mother and other relatives intensified the issue of exhuming the body of the late chief and bury it in the Guhune, Kempton decided to isolate himself because they were going against the Chief’s instruction.
He built his home in 1976 and remained pigeoned there and following his death late last year, it seems the children are carrying on with the tradition. They are still alienated from the other villagers and believe they were the people behind the death of their father. They still till their vast piece of land using bare hands, and use traditional ways of preparing maize meal. Their stock – chicken and goats are also kept in a way that they don’t mix with the rest in the village. The orchard has a variety of exotic and indigenous fruits thanks to the water canal dug way back in 1911 that passes close to the homestead and supplies water to then throughout the year.
Another problem is ensuring; the late Kempton is said to have been in Mutambara line of chieftainship hence his burial should not have been secret but should have been buried at a sacred place where those of the Mutambara Chieftainship lie buried this day. There is a possibility that Kempton’s body could be exhumed so that it is buried according to custom.
This could be a tale of history repeating itself again.
He was 67.
The late Kempton aka Kimpy, had been suffering from the disease since April 2014.
The fiery-tempered traditionalist is known for his creepy way of life which he began about four decades ago when he ostracized himself and the family from the generality of the society. He branded everyone including relatives and neighbours enemies and traitors.
Among his many other beliefs was the fact that he did not want his children to go to school in fear of them being taught ‘wild things’. “The best teacher of a child is his parents, in schools they are taught to be traitors,” he is quoted to have said during his lifetime.
He also did not attend any funerals, church and let alone go to the shops. This, he also inculcated into his children. He is also once quoted saying that if a member of the family dies, he or she will be buried by the other family members. That aside, it is the news surrounding his death that has left the community in awe.
Ever since the late Mutambara fell ill, it is said that he never visited any medical centre even hospital preferring to be helped by traditional healers around the area. This is despite the fact that Mutambara Mission Hospital is just three kilometers away from his place of residence. His illness was also never made public as it remained the family’s closely guarded secret.
It is alleged that after Kempton realized that his health was deteriorating, he invited his confidant and uncle - Romeo Muchabayetu of Guta Village Chief Mutambara, Chimanimani whom he advised that if he dies, only his family and he would bury him at his homestead and was not supposed to inform or invite anyone including other relatives and neighbours. It is said that Kimpton emphasized that the burial would be secret and only Muchabayetu, his sons and his wife should be presiding over the burial.
Sooner or later, Kempton died and his sons Matekenya and Madzirashe reported the incident to the police and later buried their father in unusual circumstances. No villager or other relatives were invited for the burial. This reporter took the trip to Cashel Valley to find how the family lived after the death of the father.
It seems they still believe in their father’s ideologies, though there is a slight change in their pattern of life and the way they dress. This follows some donation of clothing to the family by the local police who seem to have ways of communicating with them. Though there is this relationship with the police, the Officer-In-Charge Cashel Police, Inspector Godfrey Mafaka still regards them as being very unpredictable in nature.
The Community Relations and Liaison Officer (CRLO) at Cashel Valley, Sergeant Paul Hwengwere is tasked to take us to the man’s homestead. He admits that there was indeed a slight change as the family could now put on proper clothes and could walk to the police though on very few occasions when they need help.
"They used to be very militant in nature, wear animal skins, and used to carry bows and arrows,” he said.
When this news crew approached the homestead from the eastern side, the ever-alert Matekenya was to meet us and told us to go back from where we had entered and use another entrance to the western side of the homestead. This was even though we had already reached the homestead.
“Kana murikuuya pamusha uno nzira yamahambe nayo hatiibvumiriba. Hatingoda kuona tsoka dzevanhu ndawa pane zvepo zvatakatarisa. Dzokerai ngekwamabva ndiko mundopinda ngegan’a rekoko. (If you are coming to our homestead, we don’t allow people to use this route. Go back from where you are coming from and use the other entrance to the west),” said eldest of the Mutambara siblings, Matekenya, in a heavily quoted Manyika accent.
We obliged and made a beeline out of the field and had to walk another 15 minutes to reach the said entrance. As we reach the homestead, we are made to sit at an already prepared place and the other siblings lineup to greet us and sit directly opposite us. The atmosphere is so tense that a moment of silence ensures followed by introductions by the CRLO who is already known to the family through his numerous visits to the homestead. We are introduced and we tell them we have come to pay our condolences to the late “Chief” since we knew him from a published story of him in our magazine back in 1998.
Surprisingly, the family still remembers vividly the names of those journos who came at the homestead and the dates they came. After a few discussions we then live the intimidating homestead whose yard neatly secured with reeds. The huts bear different designs including the Great Zimbabwe Ruins and Pangolins among other art and messages.
We learnt that during his lifetime, Mutambara was married to his surviving wife, Tammary Mutsau Nezandonyi and sired 10 children namely Matekenya (male) aged 46 years, twins Mwadzirasha (male) and Mwazodaani (female) aged 43 years, Marwei (female), Zwatinewenyu (female), Kuzvinera (female), Mwadzirerutsa (female), Munyavhi (male), Mukorangebhachi (male), and the late Garamuchiziva (male).
Six of the older siblings stay at the homestead and are not married though they are of adult age while the other three are said to have been forcibly removed from the home by the Department of Social Welfare.
It all started in January 1998 when Mutambara is said to have seriously assaulted one of his children Garamuchiziva, whom he accused of being lazy. His child later succumbed to the serious assault and died at the homestead after a few days. He did not even seek medical treatment even though Mutambara Hospital is close to their homestead. The late son was buried at their homestead at a funeral which was only presided upon by the family. It is said that news leaked out to the police; and a month later somehow despite the family’s intensive security system, the young man’s corpse was exhumed.
Kempton Mutambara was charged with culpable homicide and spent a year in Mutare Prison, where he was released from jail in mid-1999. The social service office represented by Miss Connie Tobaiwa in the company of armed ZRP Cashel personnel later visited Kempton Mutambara with an assignment to remove other children from him fearing for their safety following the publicized story of him having killed his son.
Kempton was bitter about the move but he calmed down after realizing that the police personnel had with them some superior firepower. He reluctantly permitted them to remove the children Mukorangebhachi, Munyavhi, and Mwadzirerutsa. Mwadzirerutsa who was the eldest was sent for rehabilitation at the National Rehabilitation Centre (London Lodge) because of her age as she had just turned 18. Munyavhi was committed to the probation hostel in Mutare while Mukorangebhachi to Forward in Faith Children’s Home and he is currently at the school of preaching. Mwadzirerutsa later got married but is said to have been disowned by the late Mutambara for having defied her rules.
When her husband wanted to pay lobola to the father, they are said to have come to Cashel Police who accompanied them to the homestead but Kempton refused to accept the bride price saying that she was now an outcast. Police officers who happened to be there on the day said that the atmosphere was tense and the other girls and the mother even wanted to snatch their sister back.
Mwadzirerutsa was to make a comeback to her home this time to pay her last respects to her late father soon after his death and again sought help of the local police who accompanied her. She is said not to have reached the homestead after an altercation between her husband and the brother.
But what is it that triggered such weird and ancient type of living?
In his interview with The Outpost in 1998, the late Mutambara said that problems began to emerge in 1971 and worsened in 1973.
“The then Melsetter (now Chimanimani) District Administrator, Mr. Peters in the company of Member-In-Charge of the then BSAP (now ZRP) Cashel, Section Officer Penfield arrived at our homestead and announced that the UDI government had decided to strip all chiefs of their chieftainship for collaborating with terrorists. The following day three police officers escorted some two men who collected his father’s chieftainship medals,” he is quoted to have said in an interview 17 years ago.
Kempton’s father got ill and passed away on the morning of July 20, 1974.
“Before he passed on that morning, my father summoned me and said to me, ‘my son Kempton, your father, I, Chief Matindike Mutambara, I am going but keep on fighting and repossess my throne stolen from me, but remember to bury me in my homestead and do not take me up the ‘Guhune or Guta Remadzishe’, a traditional burial site for the late Mutambara chiefs,” he is quoted in The Outpost 1998, February issue.
Thereafter, Kempton is said to have single-handedly buried his father at their homestead but when his mother and other relatives intensified the issue of exhuming the body of the late chief and bury it in the Guhune, Kempton decided to isolate himself because they were going against the Chief’s instruction.
He built his home in 1976 and remained pigeoned there and following his death late last year, it seems the children are carrying on with the tradition. They are still alienated from the other villagers and believe they were the people behind the death of their father. They still till their vast piece of land using bare hands, and use traditional ways of preparing maize meal. Their stock – chicken and goats are also kept in a way that they don’t mix with the rest in the village. The orchard has a variety of exotic and indigenous fruits thanks to the water canal dug way back in 1911 that passes close to the homestead and supplies water to then throughout the year.
Another problem is ensuring; the late Kempton is said to have been in Mutambara line of chieftainship hence his burial should not have been secret but should have been buried at a sacred place where those of the Mutambara Chieftainship lie buried this day. There is a possibility that Kempton’s body could be exhumed so that it is buried according to custom.
This could be a tale of history repeating itself again.
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