Unmasking the changes of roora

Gloria Muruva

And so, social media is agog with the lobola list charged on late music icon and national hero Dr Oliver Mtukudzi when he married Melody Murape in 1978.

We are told, the list was leaked by Dr Mtukudzi’s daughter Selmor during the late musician’s commemoration ceremony a few weeks ago, making it very authentic.

Selmor, a musician in her own right, is a product of that marriage. How beautiful..

For less than $100 Mtukudzi got a wife and the exchange rate at that time was 1:1. Today where do you get a wife with that money . . . 

Suffice it to say, Mtukudzi’s list sparked debate on lobola, delving mainly into whether it is a money spinning venture or mere cementing of a relationship.

Then marriage was a process of cementing a relationship. Then, marriage was sacred and respecting its institution was sacrosanct.

Payment of lobola has now been commercialized, monitised and spiced with lobola squads, symphony, discography, lobola squads, dress codes, etc

Where in the past, on lobola day the groom would have a real interface with the situation on the ground at his in-laws, today there is internal and exterior deco.

Where the mother-in-law would cook the best meal for her son-in-law, today, there is catering services on the first day.

Where the son-in-law would pool resources to pay lobola, now he has to fork more, spending photo shoots, squad dressing, catering services and decorum.

Modern dynamics have brought in new ideas that have overtaken or have been spiced with traditional practices.

Nowadays lobola  is an extraordinary event where both the bride and the groom need to have more time to plan what exactly do they need for their day to be outstanding .

This kind of lobola is not only a memorable event to both families but also has contributed to the countries economic boost through job creation.

In an interview with Mrs Samantha tete , an event planner said that back in the days roora was just for close family members and there would never be any party to celebrate the event . 

“ Back then roora was only for key important members of the family who were obliged to be present and some of the members would be informed later after the ceremony “ said Tete 

‘‘Payment of lobola is more like a mini wedding whereby relatives, friends and neighbours are invited, there’s introduction of a roora squad ,roora cake, there are  decorations among other things which can be found on a  white wedding . Moreso, people can now do both roora and wedding same day which is something knew in our country’’ continued Tete

Wealth Masendu  a young man who aspire to do a new version of roora in the future shared the same sentiments with Tete. 

“Back in the day Roora was just for few relatives like father,mother,brothers,sisters and aunties  unlike nowadays people are now doing  catering, Decor & maroora squad “ said Masendu.

Following investigations on these roora ceremonies it can be concluded that all these roora  events have enabled people to earn a living through offering services required for the whole process. In an interview with Takura Kachambwa  who is also an actor affectionately known as  “Tunga “said that doing events business is something which can make one feed his family because it’s on demand considering the introduction of these roora ceremonies.

“I started as a choreographer in 2009  and in 2016 I also joined Mc business. This business has transformed my life in many ways I can afford to earn a living from it because most people would want to have a celebrity as their MC and because of this privilege I can confidently encourage other young people out there to join into this venture” said Kachambwa.

“Normally in this kind of business we rest in November because they will be few events so we will be mostly focusing on graduation events where mostly I will be an MC . Zimbabweans have this culture where they usually do their events on Saturdays but if it’s in December I will be fully booked because that is when we will have a lot of events from weddings,roora, graduation, birthdays among other events . So with these we rarely get time to rest because we will be busy everytime .My prices they range from $350 – 600 depending with the event and what you want” lamented Kachambwa.

The decoration and catering industry is also another group of people who are also having Brisky business doing roora events. In an interview with Mrs Samantha Tete who is into deco and catering she narrated how she started and how the business has improved her life in general.

“We started basically by being involved in church Deco as young people and decided to try it on a more professional level that was in 2019. If it’s not a busy month  we probably have 4 to 5 clients but busy months especially holidays it can a client every weekend even 2 in a day” said Tete.

It turned out that young people have welcomed these new roora events as they show much interest in them .in an interview with Emmah Tatenda Chitsime newly wedded lady said the world is changing and one needs to get copy up with what is happening.

“I chose the new version of roora because we are living in a modern world so we are coping up with the changes which are taking place, we have to change because if we continue to do the same thing over n over again it becomes monotonous and if you see this type of roora it encourages one to get married because it is something which is classy” she said .