Tragedy unleashes Mutsago’s writing talent

…the story of a rookie cop who published a thriller

 Growing up in the sprawling suburb of Sakubva in Mutare, a Macheke based police officer, Constable Stephen Mutsago also known by his fans as H.O.D (Head of Department) never dreamt of ever writing any literary work. Instead, he excelled in science as well as public speaking. Mutsago has put behind his youth days to publish a scintillating novel titled Vicious Circle.

 “I was a science student at school and I also excelled in debates and public speaking and I excelled in these areas hence the nickname HOD. I believe my writing was shaped at this tender age,” he told this publication.

Though his talent never saw him writing much, his literary talent was to be awakened from hibernation following the tragic death of his mother; Pauline Mutsago who died a few years after he graduated from the police training school.

“My mother passed on when I thought she would enjoy the fruits of her labour and this was so devastating in my life. I was from a poor background and after graduating from depot in May 2013, I was trying to do something for my mother who had suffered in trying to fend for us, unfortunately, she passed on in September four months after my graduation.

“This was a painful period of my life and to express my sorrow I penned my first novel Ndozviudzaniko. This Shona novel was my first literary work and I wrote it as a dedication to her. When I wrote it, I put it on social media (Facebook) and the response I got was overwhelming. My fans started asking for more and this gave me encouragement and that’s when I started writing.

Since the writing of his first novel, Mutsago has written several other short stories like Vengeance, Delilah and Beautiful Liar all which he has published on his page on social media. On these stories Mutsago says he touched on real-life experiences like heartbreak and love, overcoming fears as well as adventures.

But it is his current novel that he has made a major breakthrough in novel writing. Mutsago speaks about what inspired the writing of the novel Vicious Circle.

“I started writing my current novel in March 2015 and it took me about a year to complete it. When I began writing the novel, I was an Investigation Officer, as an investigator, I liked action-packed movies and used to implement what I was watched in my work. I also wanted to write it more thrillingly to help other police officers to see how we can investigate other cases. I have also infused the need to have God as a helper in investigations or doing police work.

“In the book I was talking about scene attendance and crisis management as well as love and the aspect of religion as in Christianity and how it matters in police work. Lastly I also tackled on unavoidable dangers that we encounter as police in our work,” he said.

The set up of the novel, says Mutsago, is a town set up and is influenced by the environment which I was working in.

Says Mutsago: “Vicous Circle is the situation whereby the solution to a problem creates more of them (problems) making it difficult to solve the original one. Therefore a vicious circle cannot be broken from the inside unless an external factor intervenes. The main character in the novel, Detective HOD is trying to solve a series of cases and the more he tries the more complex they become. This ends up involving his family but in the end, he is victorious. That is when the aspect of the external force – God - intervenes to break it.”

After the publication of a book by the Commissioner-General of Police titled The History of Policing in Zimbabwe, I found out that the book was very informative and touched on real things that happened in the history of police. I also thought that my novel was also informative of things that we meet on the ground as we go about our duties as police.

I must confess the Commissioner-General of Police’s book inspired me so much.

Mutsago then inquired from his superiors how he could also publish his book.

“I approached Superintendent Gibson Shumba who is Superintendent Administration at Makonde District Headquarters where I was stationed. He told me to write my request through the Officer-In-Charge for onwards transmission to Police General Headquarters together with the sample of the book. In July I got the approval to publish.

Soon after approval, I went to the National Archives to get the publishing rights ISBN number and I then went to the editor, Pastor Kimion Tagwireyi a journalist at Pearls Press Media, a publishing consultancy who edited and designed the book at my own cost.

To cater for the variety of readers, the novel Vicious Circle has two editions one in English while the other has a mixture of shone and English as well as slang and is already available for sale in the country.

Though the book is on sale now, Mutsago says that conventional publishing or self-publishing needs resources and its strenuous. But despite that, he says he will write more books.

“I am going to write more books and what pushes me is that as a Christian and a singer and I have learned that besides knowledge of the bible, people need to know of our moral standards as well. I am currently writing another novel Whispering Wind and I am in the preliminary stages. I like action-packed novels though this time I am not concentrating much on police work like Vicious Circle."

Besides writing, Mutsago is also a musician and has a gospel music album which he says still awaits permission from the Commissioner-General of Police. He says music and writing links well as he will be expressing himself in both ways.

The talented writer was attested in the police in November 2012 and was posted to ZRP Chemagamba in Mashonaland West Province after graduation. He was then transferred to Makonde District Headquarters Operations before moving to Mashonaland East Province’s Macheke Police Station where he is doing investigations duties.

Born and bred in the oldest suburb in the border city of Mutare in the Eastern Highlands, Mutsago remembers his days at school where he attended Zamba Primary and St Joseph’s High Schools in Sakubva. While in his secondary education, he earned his nickname H.O.D (Heard of Department) the character which he used in his book Vicious Circle.

He is a father of one and married to Tatenda Kutsirai.