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Article Title: The Post-Burial Rite of Kusemendera Guwa in the Indigenous Ndau Culture in Zimbabwe: Insights on Enculturation Theology
by Tenson M. Muyambo and Richard S. Maposa

Abstract:
There is a fresh paradigm about how Africans perceive their dead. The early missionaries regarded African rites as fetishistic and primitive so much that the indigenous people felt ashamed in performing and celebrating their traditions and culture. However, with the emergence of African Renaissance studies most indigenous rituals are re-surfacing with vitality. The indigenous knowledge systems of these rites de passage are gaining much currency so much that they must be incorporated in the Zimbabwean formal education. Amongst those rites is the post-burial rite of kusemendera guwa. The study examines the significance of this rite in the context of the surging theology of enculturation in Africa. Accordingly, the principal aim of the study is to expose the nature of the rite of kusemendera guwa (grace cementing) in the context of Ndau culture in Zimbabwe. The study perceives a theology of enculturation to constitute potentialities of making African Christianity authentic. The study guarantees the continuity and resilience of the indigenous rites of passage among the Ndau indigenes.

Keywords: enculturation theology, culture, education, Kusemendera Guwa, Ndau, Zimbabwe.

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