Of HuChasi

Of  HuChasi

While on the twitter streets between @Buhle_Matsha and @Ndi_Ash I picked up a phrase which echoed sentiments that I felt; when a lot of time and effort is invested to look like the things are being done; while the things that should be made to be done are not being done, a bit like a sleight of hand, misdirection or busy doing nothing. Where are the pots?

Of Huchasi…. A doing word.

— ~B 🇿🇼 (@Beatonm5) September 18, 2019

HuChasi /hʊtʃæsi/ [A Verb; Active Doing Word]

Examples:

1. When its raining and one is outside getting soaked, struggling with closing and securing the gate; when the yard has no fence or perimeter wall and the house has no roof or windows.
2. When you havent cooked supper, because there are no clean plates and you spent the whole day planting the seeds of the vegetables you hoped to eat for supper.
3. When your bank has a cash problem and they forget to notify you of new charges and business conditions but they decide to introduce a new uniform for bank tellers to reflect your bank’s fresh new vibrant outlook and instill a sense of pride in the brand.
4. When a country fails to clean out the corruption in its government so they clean up the streets.

Etymology

HuChasi; Hu- + -Chasi

 Hu- prefix Shona word denoting a state of existence or being

–Chasi verb root derived from the noun Chasi (Surname associated with Fortune Chasi)

i.e. Being Chasi or Being like Chasi

BackStory

Fortune Chasi is Zimbabwe’s current Minister Of Energy And Power Development (effective from 14 May 2019 to present after a cabinet reshuffle) Chasi is one of the few government officials who actually interacts on social media and rose to prominence when he was Deputy Minister Of Transport And Infrastructure Development and would post updates of developments on Twitter with people tagging him as chiBaba Chacho (translates to a colloquial form of who’s your daddy or The Man)

The Ministry Of Energy And Power is a high profile troubled ministry which has to deal with our energy crisis from electricity power generation issues to load sheddings, the fuel crisis; fuel shortages and fuel pricings (fuel prices once triggered a deadly wave of protest) which is all crucially tied in with transport, industry and economy. At the onset of his appointment, some said he had been thrown a live snake and he in turn said he would skin this snake….

The Snake Skinner set out with a gusto, giving all sorts of updates on how the power challenges would be addressed, commissions and board members in the state owned power utility company ZETDC and power regulation authority ZERA were dissolved and reassessed; some members were implicated in cases of corruption and budget misappropriations; megadeals to get megawatts from neighbouring countries were signed and the electricity shortages were set to ease; governemt was looking at introducing electric cars and having solar installations at all service stations and all sorts energy updates…

People even took to giving Energy Updates of their own…

Energy Update:
I need a new hole in my belt with immediate effect.
Austerity measures got me losing weight have you seen me? I have no weight to spare 😪😱

— ~B 🇿🇼 (@Beatonm5) October 6, 2019

Fast Forward to a few months later and the Snake Skinner is still wrestling with the writhing snake, snake skinning is not an easy task and we set to brace ourselves for increased hours of load-shedding which were already averaging 15+ hours and the energy updates are coming less and less…

The power lines have long since gone silent,
the sun sets and darkness comes,
a spaghetti of meaningless wires,
carrying no electric to the city,
it's too heavy,
so they shedding the load,
leaving darkness which is light
night comes and so darkness
hello my old friend.#AbWPE pic.twitter.com/BfqKHDGitV

— ~B 🇿🇼 (@Beatonm5) October 16, 2019

Fortune Chasi is one of my favourite ministers and not just because he follows me on twitter and I hope he can take a joke, but because he tries to give updates and seemed to genuinely want a try to make a difference but the sinister snake he was tasked to skin, slithers in the corridors of power and all one can do is herd it around always seeming almost just about to skin it….

~B

PS

Energy Update: This is not an official position about anything and any inaccuracies or sensibilities offended are not intended and should be contextualised in the satirical nature in which it was crafted. … because I like keeping my energy levels within me.

*Update

Effective 14^th of August 2020 Fortune Chasi was relieved of his as Minister Of Energy and Power Development as his conduct of government business had become incompatible with the president’s expectations.