“Be fruitful and multiply” –reflecting on Genesis 128 in light of the proposed mandatory 8 kids per couple policy in Zimbabwe A retro/ progressive African identity issue.

Abstract

Parliamentary debates in Zimbabwe have often been tugs of war with battle lines being drawn between the ruling party ZANU PF and opposition parties (MDC-T, MDC-N and Independent legislators). One of the rare moments, however, which has seen the house find some common ground was during a motion which was pushed by Mashonaland West Senator Mike Byton Musaka urging government to encourage Zimbabwean couples to produce a minimum of eight children so as to extricate the problem of poverty and underdevelopment. While the controversial motion received overwhelming support from male and female Senators from both Zanu PF and MDC-T, it leaves one wondering the direction we are taking as a nation in shaping our national identity. While we need to cherish our African ways of thinking, there is need to interpret Genesis 1:28 in the present context of Africans. Engaging a pragmatic reading of Genesis 1:28, this paper argues that at creation, humans received God’s blessing that empowers them to transmit life but to transmit life should be seen as involving a serious responsibility. African couples, in other words, have to consider in their given context whether they would be able to give the necessary care to their offspring before they transmit life.