THE MATOLONGO RESURRECTION

One of the listeners to my radio dramas asked how I manage to imagine things that usually make sense. Deliberately, I did not answer him. Instead, I led him to imagine a situation that involved our grandfathers.

"If your ancestor who lived around 1900 resurrected today, would he rejoice or lament about your way of life?"

"Of course, if he is like mine, he would find his village desolate. How quickly everyone deserted the once-upon-a-time beautiful village knit by kinship would strike him. He would see that the soil is the same while the rivers have become distant. The swamp that barricaded his village has dried up. He would note the same bare open space with no trees. He would wait to see some animals wandering around but will find none. Those birds he used to prey on would have significantly diminished. He would expect the rainy season to have ended by April but would find it raining in July.

"He would take a walk into the nearby villages. No one would recognize him. His generation is no more. He would see many more noisy villages. More iron-roofed brick houses encircled countless taverns selling a cocktail of alcoholic beverages. The kind of noise from modern music systems would confuse him.

"He would be looking for Insaka where to sit and chat with his fellow men. Then, he

My grandchildren across the family tree to whom I will leave my legacy

Would find something if he joined those imbibing from the nearby pub. Meanwhile, he would be looking at the people with keen interest.

"There are more children, men and women, wearing foreign clothes and shoes. He would be dumbfounded to find women from his ancestry with hair procured from overseas. They will greet him in passing as a total stranger. He would look at their coloured lips, long nails, and shaved eyelids. Many of them will be much lighter than he would imagine. Many of them will be in trousers.

"Boys' fads would strike him; skin-tight, sagged or patched trousers. Young men with earrings and tattoos walk like they own the village and its inhabitants.

"Luckily, I would meet him. Then, somehow, he would recognize me."

'Are you not Matolongo's grandchild?'

'Yes, I'm. Who are you, Mudala?'

'I'm Matolongo.'

'Wow, Shikulu! What brings you back? Great to see you. I have heard a lot about you.'

'It is my pleasure meeting with you in this generation.'

'Welcome to the world you left us.'

'No, we did not leave you this world. This setting is your invention.'

'Why d'you say that, Grandpa?'

'We left you a peaceful world. See how these children trot around us as if we are logs. Hear the noise pollution. You have polluted the villages with nauseating clatter and chemicals. Look at the number of drunks.'

"As the curious man, he would ask where to find many of his relatives. Naturally, he would expect them to have multiplied and living happily somewhere together."

'They are all over the world. They no longer live together. Some have gone in search of an easier life. Others have differed due to the turbulent superstition you and your friends had instituted.'

'Are those girls playing football?'

'Yes. It is very normal today, Shikulu.'

'You now have Insaka for kids? Why are they congregating in one room like that?'

'Shikulu, they are playing computer games. In the other room, they are watching television.'

'What are those things?'

‘New inventions, Shikulu. You never saw them in your life.'

'Do those things teach children manners?'

'I cannot say Shikulu. You will see for yourself.'

'What are those buildings over there?'

"That is a school, clinic, police post, courtroom, and my church."

"School for skills…good. The clinic is the herbalist's place, right? And, the court is for the chief's advisors?

'What about your church?'

'Before men go betting, they come for my blessings. Then, after winning, they bring me a tithe. That's how I survive, Shikulu. See my mansion over there?'

'Is that the reason you are not in the fishing camp?'

'Exactly, Shikulu. I earn a comfortable life as God's intercessor.'

 'What is the police post for?'

'To maintain law and order. To enforce the law.'

'But you are busy creating disorder by not checking what your children are watching in there, allowing so many taverns, and doing away with Insaka?'

'Shikulu, I will show you how we have improved the world you left us.'

'Where are the men and women of the village? I could not see anyone working the fields?'

'The men in that building over there. They are checking their football-winning predictions. It is big money, Shikulu! 80% of my tithe comes from there. The women are at the harbour waiting for a generous donor to deliver supplies. See, Shikulu; we have advanced our way of life. We no longer need to work as hard as you did. We work smart.'

"Oh, I see. So what's the use of those small things people carry in their palms and pockets?"

'Cellphones. We no longer send messages through messengers as you did.'

'Oh, I see. Have these gadgets worked better for you?'

'In some way, yes… To some extent. However, we've more liars and sophisticated crimes because of the same gadgets. We even have a computer. It is even more complicated.'

Kunda, that is enough nonsense I have heard. I do not need to know anything more. I'm going back to my grave to rest in eternal peace. I cannot fit in your society."

 'But, Shikulu, wait, you have not eaten anything?'

'You have even contaminated your food with foreign chemicals. There is alien life in this village. Bye!'

'Shikulu! Shikulu! Oh, my God. He has gone even before I ask him how it feels to be dead and the process of coming back to life!'

"So, you just imagined this?"

"Yes. We call it 'Ukwelenganya.'  Keep listening to Na-Mwelenganya. You will get something."