Combies and conundrums
It’s common in Harare to see combies zoom past you. Often with a man’s head sticking out the window so that he can scout for more customers. And even though the dilapidated vehicles travel faster than light speed, that roaming head emanating from the window can spot potential customers. Once spotted, somehow this man gets a signal to the driver who is then able to stop in no time flat. The other day I saw a type of combie I’ve never seen before. A brand-spanking new one. It was white and so pristine. Not a scratch, dent, or loose part dragging on the road anywhere on it.
This unspoiled combie looked out of place. I instantly jumped to the thought that there was a story behind its existence and function. Some sort of corruption; that only certain people get to ride in this brand new combie. Like so many things in Zimbabwe, this combie seemed a paradox. Part of the façade where a carefully placed basic service is propped up to make someone think things in this is country are ok.
I saw the combie whilst I was walking along Milton Avenue. Got me thinking about another paradox having to do with the very road I was walking on. In Avondale, it’s King George Road. Once in Milton Park, it’s Milton Avenue. Then when you cross over Josiah Tongagara, the road is called Leopold Takawira. How can one road have three names?
I was walking along this road with three names on my way to an event organized by Pamberi Trust where two speakers (Ezra Chitando and Nokuthula Moyo) would be discussing Shimmer Chinodya’s novel Strife. As is a theme in the novel, the speakers explored the tensions between the power of tradition and the forces of modernity. Ezra Chitando made the compelling point that Zimbabwe needs leaders who have eyes like chameleons. This clever creature is able to effectively balance one eye looking forward at the same time the other eye is looking back. When I was walking on Milton Avenue the forward eye was Leopold Takawira and the eye looking back was King George. Made me wonder. Selecting a single name for a road might end up a superficial part of the façade, but at least it would be one step towards resolving the conundrum of balancing present and past.