This article has exposed three related issues. First, I have argued that Mahoso consciously cites the Bible, as a pan-African rabbi to put across
the pan-African ideology. It sounds weird that pan-Africanism struggles could be fought using the Bible, the same Bible that has been used and continues to be used as a weapon against African values, culture and African memory-the values that pan-Africanism seeks to preserve. Yet, it is precisely upon the realisation that the Bible has great influence in the lives of the people of Africa that to ignore it is to risk being irrelevant that Mahoso cites it. This realisation has of late seen politicians either in the MDC or in ZANU PF addressing major political, economic or social issues appealing to the Bible. Mahoso’s approach therefore is well justi- fied. In a society such as Zimbabwe where the population seems to be intoxicated with the Bible, the only way to appeal to them convincingly is to cite a verse or two from it.
Second, I have argued that to understand Mahoso’s radicalism against the Western narrative in his pan-African philosophy, as he exegetes the Bible, one needs to understand the context from which he is writing. Mahoso, together with other pan-Africanists, are surrounded with a reality that the Western world may not know or purposely choose to ignore. The context of Africa is that of poverty in the midst of plenty. And the cause of this poverty has been a contested area. For the West, Africa is poor because, it lacks young democratic leadership and the leaders stay long in office. But the reality on the ground shows that even in nations where leaders are very young and where leaders have the most possible shortest time in office, poverty is ravaging the masses, the black people. But as poverty runs amok in the black communities, white people, most of whom former colonizers, are not affected. They almost live on an island. It is this stark reality that pan-Africanists expose for all to see, the structural sins of colonisation. But the West does not seem to bother to expose this in their narrative.
Third, the article has offered as much as possible the broader back- ground to understanding pan-Africanism in general and Mahoso’s bibli- cal exegesis in particular. I have argued that history of the West from the days of slavery to colonisation and now globalisation as understood by pan-Africanists seems to evidence a consistent trend to look down upon Africans if not utter racism. The relationship between Africa and the West is still as it was during slavery and colonialism; that of master and slave, horse and rider. The West has for the pan-Africanists discredited itself by being inconsistent in responding to world affairs. The West seems to be more concerned about their political and economic interests
than anything else. This has seen them sponsor and stand with rebels against legitimately constituted governments. It is this context Mahoso responds to. Without this understanding of how the West is viewed from a pan-Africanist perspective, it is impossible to understand Mahoso. Thus, I have invested some time describing the context of Zimbabwe, Southern Africa and Africa at large. The events in Zimbabwe are used by Mahoso to explain what is going on in other parts of Africa and the world. At the same time, he uses examples from other parts of the world and Africa to explain the political, economic, social and religious events in Zimbabwe.
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