Burial sites as Contested Memorial Terrain: Historicising burial places of African Indigenous church founders in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Abrahamic religions emphasise remembering their origins, how they began, where they come from, and possibly where they will keep the flock moving forward without losing focus. “Then Joseph made the sons of Israel (Jacob) swear [an oath], saying, “God will surely visit you and take care of you [returning you to Canaan], and [when that happens] you shall carry my bones up from here.” (Gen 50:35 Amplified Version). Against this backdrop, this article discusses the centrality of the burial sites of the late Bishop Samuel Mutendi and Archbishop Ezekiel Guti. In July 1880, Bishop Samuel Mutendi was born in Zaka, Masvingo, and died at 96 in 1976. Bishop Samuel Mutendi was buried in Gokwe, Defe-Dopota. Archbishop Ezekiel Guti was born on 5 May 1923 in Ngaone, Chipinge, and died at 100 on 5 July 2023. Archbishop Guti was buried in Bindura, Mashonaland East Province. What is critical to note is that the burial places of these two church founders were not the places of their birth. From an African traditional worldview, family members should be buried in their rural villages closer to where their late departed relatives were buried. Additionally, the article observed that Archbishop Guti was given a hero status and should have been buried at the Zimbabwe National Heroes Acre. Still, Guti was buried at Chipindura in Bindura and not at the Heroes Acre or his rural home in Chipinge. The immediate questions one would ask are: what is the significance of Defe, Dopota in Gokwe and Chipindura in Bindura? Or what is the peculiarity of these two places? The current article found that these two burial places were chosen to preserve these African Indigenous churches’ history and pedigrees connecting the past to the present. This study employs a historical approach to uncover the significance of Gokwe and Bindura. Theological reflection was also used to interpret the meaning of choosing Gokwe and Bindura as burial sites for Samuel Mutendi and Ezekiel Guti, respectively.