Becoming The Muse

Coffee and Maputi

If you were having coffee with me, I would, as usual be glad to have you join me; unless of course its the first hopefully of many visits. Please, feel at home, the water has boiled, do help yourself. May I offer you some maputi; it’s a popped corn snack kind of like popcorn but made from popped maize.

This used to a favourite staple snack at boarding school, on account of it being rather reasonably priced. When the munchies grabbed you, you just munched on this, you could also enjoy with tea or juice and *boom* you good. Its like popcorn although a bit tough to chew or shall say “somewhat crunchy.” Back at school we used to nickname it goat food as we laughed at how one chewed and chewed toughening up the jaw muscles.

Its 2019 and we are having coffee with what young me would have laughed and called “stock feed” and that’s because the current price for a 35gram packet of maputi is how much a loaf of bread cost this time last year and the current largest note denomination value the $5 ZWL RTGS Bond what you call it cannot buy a loaf of bread.

If you were having coffee with me, I would say, coffee and maputi it is… To be fair this particular brand is delightfully quite spicy, with a dash of chilli flavor and surprisingly softened too; its almost as fluffy as eating popcorn.

Rediscovering a whole new side to the favourite Zimbabwean snack. Eating that maputi like groceries.

If you were having coffee with me, I would tell you that even riot police officers during a hard day’s work of dispersing protestors, will pause for a maputi break, back turned to the tear gas hazy backdrop.

This image by Shepherd Tozvireva was from last wave of protests in August that had been planned by the main opposition which later got banned. One needs to file an application with the police before proceeding with a public mass action and the approval is not guaranteed. Another application for a demonstration by the opposition party that was set for the 24^th of October to protest the raising cost of living  has not been approved

If you were having coffee with me, I wold tell you that of course not all gatherings are banned, on the 25^th of October will be an AntiSanctions Solidarity March. According to the government the challenges that the country is facing are rooted in the illegal sanctions afflicting the country. Sanctions have become the scapegoat for everything, on the news, on the TV, on the radio, state media in general; sanctions are what are hurting the country, sanctions are the face of the problems, sanctions have conveniently become the government’s HuChasi …(click to previous post for definition )

If you were having coffee with me I would be wondering if the sanctions on the country were removed would the country become miraculously better, would the police stop their heavy handed response to protest?

Over the weekend an individual died in police custody after its alleged tortured alongside 10 other vendors arrested over the twisted helmetgate involving police helmets that turned out to have been auctioned out by the police in the first place.

If you were having coffee with me, I would tell you that this piece of land is no stranger to sanction during Ian Smith’s UDI government in 1963 the country was under sanctions but that’s when it industrialised the most forced to rely on itself but this time around the sanctions seem to be crippling the country even though the countries imposing sanctions on us claim that the sanctions are targeted and should not be affecting the whole country and the ordinary citizen.

With the sanctions removed maybe we can accept the harsh truth that we are failing ourselves; is it sanctions that I am here having coffee and maputi instead of bread, reading and rereading every word I write because I heard that they cut your hair in prison and I much prefer having my hair attached to my head and my head to my neck thank you very much….

Whats going in your part of the world ?

~B