Sunday, May 27, 2018

Art of war:Nkota consolidates the Katerere Chieftancy

Samavanga as the first chief Katerere decided to form a government to help him administer the hwesa area and also be his eyes and ears.Sabvure , Sachiwo and Sanhani ;the children of his brother Goremusandu were appointed subchiefs.They were given the area around Samavanga to administer.This was a tactical move because to attack Samavanga one had to get through the three .Samavanga had two children namely Nyamhute and Nkota.Nyamhute the older one was a deep spiritualist and could make mist suddenly appear and   and  cover Mhokore mountain.Mhute in shona means mist.Therefore Nyamhute naturally means  'the maker of the mist.Some of Nyamhute's descendants to this day include those who use the Nyamutswa and Manjoro surname.Nkota the younger brother knew that his brother would naturally ascend to the chieftancy .Nkota decided to make a plan to grab the Chieftancy for himself.Using a method of low intensity he began to secretly recruit an army that began to arrive at the royal court under the guise of  labourers and traders.Nkota continued to pay and maintain his secret army until his father Samavanga died . The army stepped out in the open and installed Nkota as paramount chief .Nyamhute knowing that his life now hung on a thin thread fled to Rusape were his family lives to this day.Like all royalty the Katerere Chieftancy is based on hereditary peerage and revolves between Nkota's children Mbudzi and Chifodya.Some of Nkota's descendants include the former General manager of Forestry commission Zimbabwe Dr Yemi Katerere and London based award winning designer Haranga Afrik klodz aka Sue Ellen Katerere

Sunday, April 29, 2018

The Katerere Chieftancy

                                        The Katerere Chieftancy: Roots
About 800 years ago a small group of people of the hwesa[mouse] totem arrived in Nyanga which is in the eastern highlands of Zimbabwe.The area had no inhabitants except for Nyakatsapa who lived in a cave.The group held a council to decide the excact place to settle.They decided to build their first permanent settlement on mhokore mountain.Mhokore is a very gigantic pyramid stone tipped mountain.The group decided on mhokore mountain because once settled they could see potential enemies when they were still far away.Mhokore was chosen as apermanent place to setttle because it acted as a military fortress.The group held another council to decide who would be their chief.The task of the chief would be would be to resolve disputes ,to be the high priest in matters of religion and to lead the group in battle.The group chose Samavanga because he was a very good listener.Samavanga was renamed Katerere.Katerere comes from the shona word 'kuterera' which means to listen carefully.Samavanga was the first paramount chief Katerere and it was him who established the Katerere ruling dynasty.The Katerere chieftancy is recognised by the government of Zimbabwe and recieves a monthly allowance.