Obvious Vengeyi
The Bible in the Service of Pan-Africanism: The Case of
Dr Tafataona Mahoso’s pan-African Biblical Exegesis
Introduction
Dr Tafataona Mahoso could be described as one of the most faithful, if
not pious, disciples and rabbi (teacher) of pan-Africanism. In Zimbabwe,
Southern Africa and Africa at large, he is known in academic and politi-
cal circles for nothing other than his radical but in-depth pan-African
analyses. He could be called a prophet of pan-Africanism, an African
prophet Elijah calling for traditional nationalism. Mahoso through his
column, ‘African Focus’, in the weekly Zimbabwean newspaper, The
Sunday Mail, has commented on African politics, economics, media,
culture, history, religion and any other subject of relevance to Africa. To
argue his case, Mahoso normally appeals to many sources; African his-
tory, culture, philosophy, religion, art, proverbs, riddles, wisdom sayings
and anything from the African heritage.
Of late however, Mahoso has added the Bible to the list of ‘weapons’ in
his quiver. While he has been citing or mentioning biblical characters in
his analyses, Mahoso’s citation from the Bible is becoming more pro-
nounced, more elaborate and even sustained. The year 2011 has espe-
cially seen Mahoso appeal to the Bible more often than not. It seems
logically sustainable to suspect that he has deliberately and consciously
brandished the Bible as one of his many ‘weapons’ to fight the battle
against imperialism, which imperialism for pan-Africanists has become
so pervasive that it has sometimes disguised itself by among other
means, fronting blacks; political, academic, media, Non-Governmental
Organisations (NGOs) and religious leaders. Although not a trained
biblical hermeneutician, Mahoso is one person who is talented in bring-
ing together an array of issues that seem unrelated into one smooth
running story that clearly agrees with the theme of the biblical passage
he would have chosen.
Characteristic about Mahoso’s articles I have chosen to analyse in this
article is not only their profuse biblical citations but also their reliance