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Mthabisi Tshuma, Showbiz Correspondent
A Mathematics and English teacher at Hilltop Private College in Kadoma, Tafadzwa Mahachi has taken the closure of schools as a befitting time for him to pursue his writing passion. The opening of schools this year was deferred to a date yet to be announced due to the spike in Covid-19 cases in the country.

Utilising this time, Mahachi managed to publish a book titled Undaunted. The book seeks to encourage Africans to see themselves as a common people regardless of tribal or ethnic differences. Mahachi who is a church leader at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Kadoma and also served as a missionary in Zambia and Malawi, said the book is a community unifier.

“I strongly believe that the broader enemy, the coloniser, widened the chasm between tribal lines in order to divide and rule. We need to address issues of marginalisation of smaller ethnic groups and identify ourselves as nations and ultimately as a continent. These are the things that motivated me to write this book,” he said.

Undaunted is Mahachi’s first work of fiction after Missionary Strategies which talks about ways to become an effective servant of God in preaching the gospel and British Parliamentary Debating which covers the technicalities involved when debating.

The book was published by Royalty Books and edited by Phillip Kundeni Chidavaenzi who is the author of The Ties That Bind which is being used a set book for ‘A’ Level literature. Mahachi said he is also hopeful that his will be considered by Zimsec and the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education.

“It’s my hope that my work will be a set book too. I started writing when I was in Form 1 at Rimuka High School. I used to write articles for our school noticeboard that would be stamped by the headmaster before being put on the noticeboard. At college, I was a student leader under Zicosu and I participated in debating that took me to Ghana in 2015 where I became a semi- finalist public speaker,” said Mahachi.

The 33-year-old who is married and a father of one daughter said he is using the lockdown period as a time to reach out to his readers.-@mthabisimthire.