Mnangagwa launches biography and here is why it is important

Zimbabwe’s president Emmerson Mnangagwa has launched his biography, A Life of Sacrifice: ED Mnangagwa.

The book was authored by Eddie Cross and gives Mnangagwa’s own account the life he has lived.

It chronicles life during the liberation struggle, right up to his presidency.

Now, people can have their own say on what they think of the man but there are a few reasons why this book is important.

Firstly, it puts the president, who gives very few interviews and talks even less about his life on record. Those who can put him to scrutiny can have a record to create a counternarrative against. The important thing will be, he said it.

Secondly, we have so little written by people in general, really. President Robert Mugabe died without a book out. So did SB Moyo, whose account of the dramatic events around the monikered Military Assisted Transition would be invaluable, for the epistemic narration of the country’s moments. In the US, many books are written, with thoughts by those in positions of power, for posterity.

Thirdly, it might encourage people on both sides of the political divide to write books too, so we get more of them rather than their political opinions. That could cascade towards a reading a culture and with it perhaps other arts being stimulated for consumption. As it stands the quality of storytelling remains parochial because there is too little source material for content to be developed further, especially from the perspective of those who lived it.

Like we said, whether you agree with him or not, is neither here nor there for the purposes of this discussion. There may be omissions or deviations, but getting someone on record is that for which we came.

Question is, will there be a movie?