KACHASU - THE SPIRIT OF KANTOLOMBA BY MOSES TOLOLO

GENRE: SHORT STORY TITLE: KACHASU - THE SPIRIT OF KANTOLOMBA WRITER: MOSES TOLOLO, ZAMBIA REVIEWER: FUNMI RICHARDS, NIGERIA
 
We should all be truly African; a guide to being proudly African - the spirit of Kantolomba.
"Have you tasted it? It's probably the most mouthwatering your taste buds will ever taste.  It's the rarest taste you can ever get."

Kachasu - the spirit of Kantolomba is a reflective piece giving rich insight into the culture, innovation, living and breathing in Africa vis-à-vis the western dream that all things good and beautiful must come from ‘the abroad’.

The characters draw a juxtaposition between the African who thinks he is now successful because he — Chibuye has gone abroad and 'managed' to marry a white woman. And Mama the illicit Kachasu brewer. The symbolism of both characters reflects the young idealist — Chibuye looking to pursue greener pastures and the old, crude — Mama who personifies the African proverb “what the elders see while sitting, the young ones standing on their toes won't see.”

This piece is what my Nigerian friends would call a table shaker. It points fingers at everyone like the Ambassadors of poverty by P.O.C Umeh. It directs the responsibility of growth and development and calls for all Africans to look homewards for development. It calls for Pan-Africanist conversations. It does make me wonder though if the writer isn’t at all wishing for this costly western dream. And if not, why?

When I first read this, I wondered if there is a Kachasu drink as strong a brew as Mama’s, I didn’t believe there was but after some research, I found that there is. Kachasu (or lituka) is a traditional brew brewed in parts of Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, DR Congo. I also found out that Kachasu was proposed to the Zambian government as an alternative to hand-sanitiser material for people that do not have access to clean water, soap, or any other factory tailored alcohol-based hand rub in the heat of the pandemic. All of which add substance to the power of the overall message of the piece which is the need for homeward solutions.