George Tawengwa

Tawengwa was a polygamist. He had seven spouses who bore twenty children. Below is a list of children and their respective mothers in chronological order:-

First Spouse

• Garikayi Chirume Tawengwa (born on 7 July 1937)
• Nellia (Neria) Tawengwa (born on 15 June 1940)

Second Spouse

• Solomon Chirume Tawengwa (born on 15 June 1940)
• Gabriel Maoni Tawengwa (born on 23 March 1946)
• Felicitas Tawengwa (born on TBA )

Third Spouse

• Edwin Tawengwa (born on 29 March 1945)

Fourth Spouse

• Joseph Tawengwa (born on 14 July 1949)
• Tito Tawengwa (born on 4 September 1951)
• Dorothy Tawengwa - Makwaza (born on TBA)

Fifth Spouse

• Christopher Chirume Tawengwa (born on 10 June 1950)

Sixth Spouse

• Godfrey Maruva Quest Tawengwa - 1st twin (born on 21 April 1954)
• Charles Zvidzayi Tawengwa - 2nd twin (born on 21 April 1954)
• Aggrey Tichaona Tawengwa (born on 21 March 1956)
• George Nhamoinesu Tawengwa (born on 1 January 1958)
• Tendayi Edgar Tawengwa (born on 17 November 1959)
• Noble Tazvitadza Tawengwa (born 03 Feb 1964)
• Bright Mugove Davison Tawengwa (born on 21 September 1966)
• Blessing Nyarai. Tawengwa (born on 3 May 1969)

Seventh Spouse

• Takawira Tawengwa (born on 10 April 1969)
• Amon Tawengwa (born on 4 March 1971)

Tawengwa was born to Chirume and Maria (Mhariya) of the Gumbo Madyira totem and had an elder brother Takawira Chirume who died within the first two years of birth and a younger brother Bernard Chamunorwa Chirume. His mother died when he was only 4 years old in 1919. It is rumoured she was poisoned, as a consequence of polygamous rivalry.

Thereafter the true dynamics of the father and son relationship are not fully known, but were chronicled as not the most cordial. At one point folklore has it that the young George became very ill to the point of death. His father decided to call a prophet to identify and possibly cure him of this affliction. At this time he was now housed in a make shift shelter made of grass and tree branches, some distance from the homestead. Such shelters were designed to protect the dignity and privacy of a very sick person in their last days. However the prophet gave an intriguing revelation on the cause of sickness, as a sign that he had been chosen by the gods for a mission. To reignite a lost cause and to one day handover the baton to the next generation. And would become a very wealthy and prominent person, that will make history. On hearing this, his father and the whole village laughed and dismissed the prophecy as absolute nonsense. However time proved the prophet right.

Then when he was about 12 years old, he mistakenly picked a piece of meat from the plate before his father. Who was so infuriated by his disrespect to the point of reaching for his spear and threw it at him. Which inflicted a deep cut on his right calf, of what could have been a fatal strike. It was at that very moment he runaway from home: limping, bleeding, bear footed and crying; with only the clothes on his back. Some days later he ended up at Grinham Farm in Marandellas (Marondera) where Ruzawi School is today. There he started his first job as a shepard, working for Rev.Canon Robert Grinham, the founder of Ruzawi school and Springvale House. It was during this period Mrs Grinham drew a painting of him herding sheep. And she was to bring this painting to him some 40 years later in the late 1960s, at his house, 198 Ruzawi Road, Marandellas (opposite Show grounds) about 3 kilometers from the Grinham farm.

Using Tawengwa as surname

Because of the disgruntlement with his father he later dropped the surname Chirume in favour of his middle name Tavengwa, which was misspelt in some early documents as Tayengwa, and later anglicised to the current Tawengwa by white District Administrators (DAs). Tavengwa literally translates to, we are hated, given to him by his mother to signify how she was tormented and treated as an outcast by other family members during time she was in a polygamous relationship with Chirume. The two boys George and Bernard are said to have suffered greatly at the hands of their stepmother. Though George had it worse and like his mother Maria, he was also treated as an outcast, never sent school like his half siblings.

The still adolescent George left Grinham farm when he was about 15 years and secured his second job at the Meikles hotel where he was employed as a dishwasher. Tawengwa was identified as a clever young man and he was soon promoted to become a waiter. Then Tawengwa lived at Joburg Lines in Harare Township now Mbare.

The young and charismatic Tawengwa would get a lot of tips as a waiter and he used the money to buy a wood planer, mesh wire and wood off-cuts to make sieves which people needed to refine their maize mealie-meal amongst other grain mealie-meals. There was a huge demand and ready market for these sieves. And Tawengwa made enough capital for other ventures as chronicled below in the article Successful Man of Business about his early accomplishments in business.

The Dream

The story that he widely shared with his children, is how he walked on foot between Chingondo in Hwedza and then Salisbury (now Harare) leading a train of donkeys loaded with grain to sell in Harare and bringing back cloths (fabrics) to barter with grain amongst village folk in the Chingondo area. Story culminates on how one day on the return leg he had to sleep enroute to Hwedza in this large white commercial farm. That night he had a dream that one day he would own the very farm he is sleeping in. Given the sheer size of the farm, nearly 2000 hectares, it was his turn to laugh at the prophetic dream. This would have been sometime between 1941 and 1947. However true to this vision, he purchased Rhodesdale farm (now Zimdale farm) in 1960.

Pain makes you stronger, tears make you braver, and heartbreaks make you wiser, so thank the past for a better future. - Unknown

From Ruzawi in Marandellas (Marondera) he moved to Salisbury (Harare) probably around 1931. To take up employment as a dishwasher, then waiter at Meikles Hotel. It was at this time an idea was birthed that one day he would also own a Hotel. In November 1953 aged 38, The African Parade Magazine (now called The Parade) wrote an article titled "Successful Man of Business" about his early accomplishments in business.

The African Parade Magazine Article of George TAWENGWA titled Successful Man of Business. November 1953 Issue.

Here is an extract from article above:-

Mr Tayengwa of Wedza (Hwedza) Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), was one of many Africans who had become successful business man even though he never saw the door of a school. In 1936 he took up wood work in Salisbury (Harare) before trying his hand at hawking in early 1941, an endeavour which he was such a success in that in the same year he had enough capital to open a store in Wedza at Chiwengwa Village Hall. His means of transport at first were donkeys until 1947 when he managed to buy a lorry, which he later converted into a bus at which point he launched his most successful business venture Mushandira Pamwe Bus Service. By 1951 he was running a fleet of four buses and in 1953 he opened a new store.

The Mushandira Pamwe Hotel. Built in 1969 by George Tawengwa Snr.

He later established Mushandira Pamwe Bus Service with a fleet of over 150 buses.

The Mushandira Pamwe Buses. Started in 1947 and fleet later grew to over 150 buses.

George Tawengwa had several retail outlets throughout Zimbabwe, including his first major building project Mushandira Pamwe Centre in Dombotombo, Marondera.

The Mushandira Pamwe Center in Dombotombo, Marondera. Built in the 1960s

He was the first black man to own a commercial farm in colonial Rhodesia. He went on to acquire eight more commercial farms, each one averaging at least 1000 hectares each. A year before his death he had set in motion a regional expansion plan first to neighbouring Mozambique, a vision that was never fulfilled. The trading name Mushandira Pamwe means "working together as one". He believed as one much more could be accomplished. Therefore, unity is key for success.

Mushandirapamwe Hotel was at Zimbabwe's independence in 1980, the transitional residence of returning ZANU PF Officials and ZANLA troops.

His sons are all entrepreneurs and farmers, with Charles Tawengwa and Solomon Tawengwa having served as mayors of Harare.

Solomon Tawengwa served as Member of Parliament for Highfields between 1987 and 1990, a seat that had been made vacant when the then Prime Minister of Zimbabwe was elevated to the Executive Presidency. He also served twice as mayor of Harare, and became Harare's first Executive Mayor. He served on the politburo of ZANU-PF as Deputy Secretary for Economic Affairs and was also very active in corporate Zimbabwe serving as chairman of key listed companies and parastatals, among them RioZim, Lafarge Cement and ZESA Holdings.

In November 2005, Charles Tawengwa was appointed Zanu PF Senator for Highfield, Glen Norah, Glen View in the Zimbabwean Parliament. In 2010 Charles Tawengwa was appointed to the ZANU PF politburo. On 3 September 2013, Charles Z Tawengwa was elected as senator for Harare Metropolitan. Charles Tawengwa has served as Acting Chairman for ZANU - PF's Harare Province.

George Tawengwa Senior. Photo taken in the early 1980s before he passed in 1982

George Tawengwa succumbed to diabetes and died on 13th April 1982 at Parerenyatwa Hospital in Harare, aged 67. He was buried at Zimdale Farm (then Rhodesdale Farm), the first farm he purchased in 1960. May his soul rest in peace and quiet.

Tawengwa was of Royal ancestry. His totem (mutupo) was Nzou (elephant) and Matemai (matemavi, matemayi) as the honorific name. The totem evolved from Shiri-Hungwe then to Nzou Samanyanga. An account of its origins is necessary to cite historical facts about Nyatsimba Mutota. Who was a prince at Great Zimbabwe, son to the King, Chibatamatosi of the Shiri-Hungwe totem and lineage. When Mutota migrated north to setup in the Zambezi Valley area, with his royal capital at Zvongombe. He proceeded to conquer the Tavara (of the Nzou Nhari une/ine Ndoro totem) assuming their sacred animal title, the Elephant, as a totem, thus becoming Nzou Samanyanga (the Big Elephant). At the same time taking control of the salt deposits and gold mines, establishing the foundations of the Mhunumutapa Empire.

Prior to Great Zimbabwe the now Nzou Matemai clan migrated South from Nubia (Sudan today) where the Kings are revered to as Kore, and to this day the tribe in Zimbabwe is referred to as maKore-Kore (the Royals - the Kings). Matemai means Kings of the land. The root word "Tema" meaning "to cut" land or distribute land. To this day Chiefs around the Great Lakes region in Tanganyika (Mbire and Mwanza in Tanzania) are referred to as Tema or Temi.

The same tribe is attributed to burying Kings in Pyramids as evidenced in the Khartoum desert in Sudan, a practice later grandsized by later Pharaohs. A verse in the Matemai Nzou praise poetry refers to then as "those that build stone houses" ("vachivaka na-mabwe" or "vano vaka dzimba na-mabwe").

Today descendants of TAWENGWA are of the Chief Chikwaka Royal house with their chieftainship in the Goromonzi district. Chief Chikonyora was a son of Chief Chikwaka. Chikonyora bore Manongovere, a great warrior, and the father of Chirume, and Chirume was father to George TAWENGWA. Other notable names in the ancestral lineage are Cheza and Benhura.

The significance of Cheza and Benhura in the ancestral lineage, requires understanding of what transpired in the formative years of the Second Mhunhumutapa State. Why King Mutiwaora's (1806) reign only lasted less than a year?

Below are names of Kings from the Second Mhunumutapa State beginning 1803 ending 1902:

• Changara II (1803-1804)
• Mutiwapangome (1804-1806)
• Mutiwaora (1806)
• Chipfumba (1806-1807)
• Nyasoro (1807-1828)
• Chimininyambo or Kandeya II (1828-1830)
• Dzeka (1830-1849)
• Kataruza (1849-1868)
• Kandeya III (1868-1870)
• Dzuda (1870-1887)
• Chioko Dambamupute (1887-1902)

In the Nzou Matemai praise poetry (last paragraph) special thanks and mention is only attributed to one of these Kings, Mutiwaora (1806) and acknowledgment of two ancestors, Cheza and Benhura. According to historical facts King Mutiwaora was deposed and killed by Chipfumba (1806 - 1807). After Mutiwaora was murdered, Chipfumba hatched a plan to kill all the descendants of Mutiwaora; to rise in kingship and rulership unopposed. Cheza and Benhura sensing danger decided to flee with Mutiwaora's descendants and seek refuge amongst their maternal uncles, the Tingini's Soko Murehwas of Washawasha. On reaching Murehwa (Chishawasha), a war erupted between the Buja (from Mutoko) and the Murehwa ethnic tribes. As seasoned warriors, the nephews joined their maternal uncles in battle. Fighting fearlessly and ultimately defeating the Buja. As a consequence earning a right to establish a kraal in the Goromonzi district. It is here George TAWENGWA was to be born some 109 years later in 1915 at Mwanza.

The Body is the house of God. Man, Know Thyself, and thou shalt know the gods and God. - Ancient Nubian Proverb

Nzou Matemai (Mbano Matemavi) praise poetry was written by W. Chadambura in a book titled, Uyavaya Hwenduri Dzechinyakare  Mambo Press Print 1988.

PRAISE POETRY (Detembo)

Evo Nzou
Makunda
Maita Mbano
Evo Musiyiwa
Moyo wevhu
Usarirevhu
Zwaitwa Madzorera

Maita zvenyu ve muGoromonzi
VokwaChikwaka
Zvaitwa ve mvuto chena
Vomu Dzimwe
Mbano yangu yiyi
Chiuya chinenge mukaka chinodyiwa nevasina meno
Imi makati chapinda kamwe hachiteyiwi
Chinopfumisa hachitenherwi
Zvaitwa vaera Mbada
Mune Mavara anenge e Shato
Nyoka hombe isingazvirumi
Shungu dzinoperera mukugonya sezongororo
Mhuka isina mutumbi
Chiuya chevachafema

Maita vari pamhiri pa Nhora
Vari Dzimwe muGoromonzi
VakaChikwakwa
Vekwa Chivaka namabwe
Kuvaka nomuti unosakara kana kudyiwa ne muchenje
VaChirungurira tatenda
VaNzwira -pamuviri tsvimbo yarova dapi

Maita zvenyu Mutiwaora
Vaita vaCheza na Benhura
Zwaitwa maKorekore
VaChipahomwoyo
Aiwa tatenda Musenda
Zvaonekwa vari Dzimwe

• Kingdom of Mutapa

• Shire Hungwe Origins and Migration. https://pfebve.blogspot.com/2015/08/history-of-nyandoro-clan-zimbabwe-early.html?m=1

• Mushandirapamwe Hotel - Pindula

https://www.pindula.co.zw/Mushandirapamwe_Hotel