Historically, the assertion of human rights, the pursuit of fundamental freedoms and the search for collective happiness have been the markers of human struggles in search of the ideal form of governance.
It therefore stands to reason that the spirit of Independence commemorations is not only about Zimbabwe officially becoming an independent sovereign country in 1980. This spirit of independence sustained the old Zimbabwe, it is the oxygen feeding the present-day Zimbabwe and certainly stands to inspire the future Zimbabwe. Independence is about celebrating the values that we, the people of Zimbabwe have set out for ourselves. The values of Ubuntu, national pride, sovereign will of the people, majority rule, universal suffrage (one man one vote), total freedom, good governance, peace and democracy.
For many of us who hold the stake as the young and future Zimbabwe, Independence principles have to be achieved and not just stated. Our country should be work in progress for the profit of all her people.
When I look at Zimbabwe, I am left with more vexing questions than soothing answers. I often wonder what would happen if Changamire Dombo, Sekuru Kaguvi,Herbert Chitepo , Josiah Magama Tongogara or Nikita Mangena were to rise up and see where we are today – with the majority of citizens unhappy and feeling betrayed.
They would be confronted with a hungry rural populace and millions of unemployed and jobless youngsters. They would be confronted with a Zimbabwe where elections are run under Nikuved circumstances and disputed.
They would see a Zimbabwe where the majority of our brothers and sisters are in the diaspora eking out a living in those other capitals of the world; where the chefs and their children patronise foreign universities and foreign hospitals; where ghost farms and factories bear testimony to thousands of retrenched employees and desperate former farm workers.
Black on black oppression, an intimidated indigenous populace, and a disappeared Itai Dzamara. This is a Zimbabwe where independence has been emptied of its purposed and original significance.
In the context of the foregoing, our independence and nation can never be deemed secure, to the extent that the Zimbabwean citizenry is far removed from the foundation of ubiquitous awareness of the maximum utility of a free belonging.
Independence is not supposed to be a single-day event but an everyday experience of freedom, peace and happiness. To achieve this lofty existence, we must be exemplary in leadership and in citizenship – giving full meaning to the ideals of Independence.
For this very reason, neither citizen nor politician is to be allowed to strip this sacred independence of its true meaning and content. It stands as a generational duty that the responsibility of our independence is in our hands collectively – not just the privileged few, who may be strong, rich, powerful yet unpatriotic.
Independence Day is our national holiday and has huge historical significance and therefore should be one of serious reflection and deep introspection. For all generations, this day should be commemorated in a celebratory manner, by generations current and yet to come, better than it has been with the preceding generations.
We should make it a great festival epitomized by pomp and ceremony, fanfare and parade; with shows, games, sports, the independence flame and illuminations. Song and dance must be the sublime character of this day.
Independence commemorations should be when we retreat from numerator politics of parties and partisanship to the denominator politics of the Republic – everything Zimbabwean. Party regalia and paraphernalia ought to be confined to campaign platforms. No party slogans or jingles must be allowed to contaminate the national-ness of this significantly symbolic and sacred day.
We have, out of patriotic duty, an obligation to expand and perpetuate rather than extinguish the liberation and freedom narrative beyond the limitations of time and generations.
This day must mark our constant washing of hands and shaking off of the dust of colonialism – while acknowleging whatever good we can extract out of it. The vices, contradictions and imperfections of the Rhodesia must be buried forever, never to be resurrected. For me, what comes into mind are diabolical and draconian laws we stand enjoined to liquidate for the chlorination of our national governance architecture.
Freedoms never come on a silver plate. A struggle is never a walk in the park. Considering the fact that within the progressive front internal contradictions, fights, disagreements, hypocrisies, opposing interests, and certainly the brute force of the Smith regime posed incessant danger to the liberation project , the comrades maintained the focus to free our country. This we must salute unreservedly.
Yes, it is also a holiday to remember and honour those first Zimbabweans who made sacrifices to create the Republic and then to defend it over the years.
We must celebrate our revolutionaries, who as a group exhibited extraordinary, revolutionary, enlightened, compassionate, and forward-thinking politics. The liberation promise was and remains a great promise. A promise which seems now so compromised. People must retain the right to freely express themselves politically without the fear of violence, repression and harassment thereafter.
Independence must migrate from being flag and paper independence to being tangible and practical. We must reflect on flourishing industries, buoyant communities, happy families and a prosperous citizenry. Our independence has been content empty and substance free – emptied of its true essence, substance and import.
In validating our Independence we need to vaccinate against the problem of messianic complex, naive idealism and a culture of entitlement by a few. Where and how do we want to see Zimbabwe by 2030, by 2050 and even beyond our human existence and life? How can we build a $30 billion economy by 2030 anchored on the New Zimbabwe Blueprint – whose sinews are the liberation promise and the democracy pledge.
Only we can build the Zimbabwe we want and in the process, bequeath a legacy of a giant Zimbabwe with a booming economy built on world class standards. We must establish vibrant consumer industries and booming financial services industry on the back of reliable, efficient Information Communication technologies for the 21st Century and beyond.
We must negate and vacate our past faults and failures. We can't be consumed by our petty differences any longer. The virtues that unite us far exceed the vices that may divide us.
We must create a national front predicated upon the common aspirations of the progressive majority. We swim and sink together. We rise and fall together. We succeed and fail together. May the drums of progress sound high in the land between Zambezi and Limpopo.
Let us all tenaciously walk to that mountaintop of peace, unity of purpose and celebration of our diversity, vacating the deep valley of violence, hate and partisan parochialism. Intricately woven together by our history and origin, the destiny is one and indivisible.
We must unleash our best selves for the greater good of Zimbabwe. It is possible. It is doable.
With unremitting insistence I dare call upon all genuine patriots, young and old, to put our shoulders to the block to save and serve our beautiful Zimbabwe. We are a great people with a great revolutionary past. We have a great country and a bright future.
Remember, it is our great soils that carry the bones of the great Herbert Chitepo, Josiah Magama Tongogara, Lobengula, Joshua Nkomo .Our land is rich and replete with treasures of minerals and wealth.
We have one of the best climates in the world. We have the best smile for foreign visitors. We are endowed with magnificent natural wonders. We have the human capital endowed with sui generis intellect. We have the industry of human effort.
We are a peace-thirsty, progress-loving and stability-seeking people. Geographically, we are strategically located for the commerce and trade of Southern Africa with the potential of being the transport hub of the region.
We need a new path for Zimbabwe. We must refine the context and content of the liberation struggle.
Post published in: Analysis