By Zulumathabo Zulu © 2017

Hitherto, the displacement
Hereafter, the entrapment
To revitalise the clan
To regain lost ground
The dislodgement, was harsh!
Displacement, unforeseeable
The genesis, like fragments

Strategy, like agnostic
Tactical, like ballistic
To pay attention to detail
To revive morality
To latch on actuality
To rehearse the syntactic
To unite like symbiotic

Contextual Commentary

The Mathematical Strategy Game of Morabaraba

The Meticulous Clan

When the audacious hyena queen Phiri Ya Manka rallies the members of the meticulous clan to the great mission of reclaiming lost grounds from under the unassailable clutches of foreign occupation, she has a sense of appreciation for the inherent risks in the eventual confrontation with the mighty lions but the dangerous risks are worth taking.

In order for her gutsy plan to have an iota of success, Phiri Ya Manka meticulously engineers a robust multi-paradigm strategy as in the game of the Basotho known as Morabaraba. This kind of strategy is germane to the unique dialectics of the hyena society given the fact that the clan is comprised by members of various clan societies who have come in from the outside. A multi-paradigm strategy is the best way to ensure that an ethno-pluralistic society is well integrated.

Phiri Ya Manka hedges her bet on the fact that the moral code of the clan is strong enough to withstand the tough-as-nails resistance from the lion incumbents. Notwithstanding, the defensive mighty lions will not take kindly to any signs of the hyenas getting too close for comfort and will do everything in their power to vigorously rebuff, resist and crush all assortments of untoward aggression.

The Power of the Moral Code

Unlike the maxims of conventional militaristic philosophy that underscore a weapon of war as key to success, Phiri Ya Manka puts forth a contrarian hypothesis to the clan that the moral code is a better instrument to success than a naked form of instrumental violence. For this reason, she takes out an insurance policy on this new and disruptive moral philosophy.

The deadly weapons that she brings to the situation like the bone crushing prowess, the puncturing of thick-skinned flesh, the asymmetrical design and the superior athletic ability are merely the icing on the cake because the real game changer is the cutting edge of the moral code of the clan. Through the moral code, she does not have to worry and watch over her back because the clan is there to cover her back and eliminate all the blind spots she may have. It is the hypothesis of the sacrosanct moral code that gives meaning, purpose and efficacy to the transcendental strategy and her battle plans.

The Displacement

The story of displacement from their native grounds has been rehashed into the hearts and minds and encoded, by adaptive sequencing, on the chromosomes of the dispossessed members of the clan. This kind of prosocial sequencing gives the members of the clan a superior moral basis for a just cause to reclaim and to reassert their inalienable birthright to the venerated land of the ancestors. The battle plans have been meticulously rehearsed and rigorously drilled like the mighty legend of the rat who sniffs for weak links in the chain so that nothing is left to chance as attested for in The Mighty Legend of the Rat.

The accident of history traces its roots to the night when the mighty lions appeared out of nowhere to overwhelm and to subject the hyena clan to a cruel experience of dispossession. Using their strong numbers and musculoskeletal power, like shock and awe, the mighty lions bullied the hyenas out of their indigenous land and ejected them from the fertile grounds that boasted abundance of food and water. The members of the clan were put on their back foot and forced to retreat while many were killed and some extensively injured in the process. As a consequence, the survivors were forced to live in substandard and rough patches where they eked out a living using hit and run like undeserving intruders without a sense of belonging. This also meant that identity crisis, infractions and poor health became endemic. This dark day of displacement has been forever edged in their memory and never to be forgotten.

The Bloodline and the Allegiance

To reverse the unenviable situation as an architect of destiny, Phiri Ya Manka embarked on an aggressive campaign of recruitment to bring in new members from outside the bloodline in order to rebuild and to increase the numerical strength of the new clan using the ratio of three to one with numerical padding. Unlike the mighty lions who rely on the bloodline for allegiance, the hyenas, like survival contrarians, rely on allegiance as their new form of the bloodline. In other words, it is the clannish allegiance that forms the genetic basis of the bloodline. This explains why there is such a high emphasis on the moral code because it is the moral code that provides the bedrock upon which clannish allegiance is built. Without the moral code, clannish existence is not possible. Without a moral code, the clan will fold and perish. To counteract this possibility, clannish pheromones are used to confirm and verify allegiance and adherence to the moral code. Those who fail to comply with the moral code or appear treacherous are vetted out of the clan.

During a standoff between the hyena clan and the mighty lions, tensions are extremely high on both sides. Everyone is on the abrasive edge of the volatile situation and highly neurotic about the slightest indications of troop movement. It is here that the perturbations of the novel situation bring out the best in the indomitable female leader of the clan Phiri Ya Manka.

To Energise the Inexperienced

First of all, she derives the greatest strength from the cohesive clan that provides cooperative cover over each other’s backs. This is like a battery charger that recharges her spirits. On the other hand, Phiri Ya Manka is mindful of the sensitive fact that many new recruits have not seen war with the lions and as such lack the necessary battle experience to tackle the killing machine of the mighty lions. As the vanguard of the clan, it is this kind of vulnerability that she seeks to safeguard using a tactical system of counter measures that is only possible with a disciplined army.

For this reason, she energises and directs the inexperienced troopers so that they get a sense of strategic direction and high morale in this great confrontation. Her clan must get everything right the first time. There is no room for mistakes since a single mistake is fatal enough to bring demise to the entire clan. In this way, a sense of neurotic discipline is needed to buttress their defenses and enhance the survival experience of the of the clan.

During a standoff, Phiri Ya Manka suddenly breaks away from the clan to insert herself, like a buffer, between the clan and the mighty lions. This is a risky move since a lion has been observed in the African savannahs tearing apart a hyena within seconds. The members of the clan are cognizant of the cruel fact and are highly energised and instructed by this selfless and tactical move of the hyena queen to an extent that they quickly close the gap behind  their beloved leader which increases her energy levels. By closing the gap with respect to the hyena queen, the clan members are also providing a reciprocal buffering to bolster her survival experience.

Using the peripheral vision, the pheromones and the signals from the regiment commanders on the ground, Phiri Ya Manka is buoyant and energised that the moral code is holding and directing the unbreakable wall of the clan to advance like an unstoppable furious tsunami. Like a razzle-dazzle, the fearless clan is making complex acoustics, selfless and tactical maneuvers designed to disrupt the comfort zone of the lions. This kind of strategic maneuvering is designed by the hyenas to confuse and prime the opponent for attack.

The Final Outcome

Like a lightening flash, the mighty lions are overwhelmingly displaced by the new troops on the block and scattered as far away as possible and never to return to the ancestral lands of the native hyenas. In this way, the hypothesis of the moral code, as an effective instrument of success, is confirmed by induction in the grasslands of the African savannahs.