By Style Reporter
Youthful Bulawayo author and publisher Marshal Chiza has written a book titled Dear Emmerson, a persuasive account of President Emmerson Mnangagwa as he trails his journey as Zimbabwe’s second president.
Chiza (22), considered an influencer among his peers and beyond, has three other books under his belt; Success In No Time, Poor Billionaire and Before I Become a Billionaire.
He is also a motivational speaker as well as a philathropist having established a charity organisation called Poor Billionaire Foundation.
Chiza is the founder and CEO of Billionaire Publishers, a fast-growing publishing house based in Bulawayo that has set footprints in South Africa, Zambia and Nigeria.
Dear Emmerson is a well-written anecdote that tries to unravel a luminous memoir of “a good man who is misunderstood”.
“Most Zimbabweans have their own idiosyncrasy about how to judge a President as a success or failure. They have their own criteria of judging and assessing the achievements or lack thereof,” Chiza told Standard Style.
“However, most people might agree that there must be passable time given to each leader for that to be possible.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
“Any historian worth his salt will be reluctant to give a quick judgement on the success or failures of a serving President. This is because not enough time has passed to assess their legacies.
“And so I say, that some leaders are great but misunderstood, time will not only tell, but reveal a lot to us.”
Chiza, who claims to have started writing books at the age of 14, said there was some uniqueness in President Mnangagwa that swayed him to dig deeper and put the story in black and white.
“Having realised that the sitting President is a great man, but often misunderstood, I had to sit down and get to know the man better. To my surprise, a lot of people only know a cup from a well about His Excellency,” he said.
“It, however, humbles me to write about the President’s life from my perspective, narrating the good tidings he has done thus far, though I have so much agitation in tackling this anecdote.
“It is as intense as carrying the fate of my generation. I felt that I must write about this so that posterity and those of my generation may get to know that in him we had an icon in our midst.”
Through his first book Success In No Time, Chiza was recognised as one of the youngest published authors in the history of Zimbabwean literature, a milestone he achieved at the tender age of 18.
His second book, Poor Billionaire, which was first published in 2016, catapulted him to world fame, leading to his appearance on the global scene as he featured on top television channels like CCTV.
However, he believes his latest offering will propel him to stardom as he plans to unveil the book at a mega launch which the first family is expected to grace.
“I’m looking forward to invite the President to the book launch in Harare,” he said.
“The book should be launched before end of April 2021.”
Releasing the book against a backdrop of a collapsing economy, Chiza feels calls for Mnangagwa to step down at the moment are baseless considering his predecessor the late Robert Mugabe ruled for 37 years.
“Remember the late Robert Mugabe ruled Zimbabwe for 37 years while ED Mnangagwa has just been in the office for two years now. Mugabe was a fully fleshed orange tree while ED is still an orange in its sapling, given time he will also grow to something bigger,” he said.
“Let’s give him time and we can always do a postmortem after his term. I believe it’s too early to judge progress at the moment. Rome was not built in a day.”
Chiza said he was not a bootlicker, but someone who got to understand more about the President and share his thoughts with everyone else.
“I’ve come to realise that people will always have their own opinions over everything, but I can’t worry about that now,” he said.
“Before I started writing the book, I asked myself these two questions: If not me, then who, and if not now, then when?
“And mind you, people may want to put this as a political book, but in actual fact it’s not, hence the title Dear Emmerson — Emmerson referring to the personality of the President, not him as a leader. We need to understand the man first before him being the President.”
The book is segmented into seven chapters and these include Understanding the Zimbabwean Mindset, The Ascension — A Closer Look (Who is Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa?), Emmerson or Robert?, Soft as Wool, The President’s Foreign Diplomatic Drive, Great but Misunderstood and The Zimbabwe I would Want to See — Dear Emmerson.
