Chitepo School – an enduring legacy of the struggle

Lonias Rozvi Majoni Correspondent
One of the most positive outcomes of the military’s “Operation Restore Legacy” which led to the resignation of former President Mugabe in November last year is the revival of the Chitepo Ideological School.

Cognisant of the need to impart foundational ethos regarding the country’s birth, the ruling revolutionary Zanu-PF party saw it imperative to revive the Chitepo Ideological School which was instrumental in producing a disciplined and conscientious cadreship during the liberation struggle.

It was thus humbling that the Zimbabwe Congress of Students’ Union at the University of Zimbabwe held a five-day seminar with students from various schools where presenters gave historical perspectives behind the consummation of the Chitepo Ideological School.

The five-day seminar, which started on Saturday February 17, ended on February 21, 2018. The noble initiative attracted hundreds of future leaders, tertiary students, intellectuals and other stakeholders from institutions of higher learning in Zimbabwe.

War Veterans’ Welfare permanent secretary Retired Brigadier-General Asher Tapfumaneyi, who was the guest speaker, succinctly located the cause of the morass that had embedded itself in the Zanu-PF party prior to the military involvement to the lack of ideological grounding among the generality of post-independence cadres.

At the centre of the Chitepo Ideological School is the need to identify and embrace the ruling party’s foundational ideology which is rooted in socialism with Zimbabwean characteristics.

Understanding Zanu-PF foundational ethos naturally empowers the multitudes of its supporters to remain rooted in their appreciation of the party’s enduring policies that are pro-poor and pro-majority.

Besides having an appreciation of the party’s historical trajectory, the Chitepo Ideological School is also aimed at inculcating a sense of patriotism and discipline among the youths, most of whom daily depend on mediated information.

Chitepo Ideological School principal Cde Munyaradzi Machacha, who also addressed the seminar, emphasised the need for young people to appreciate the country’s history and ensure that they safeguard the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

He said “Operation Restore Legacy” was about going back to the drawing board and re-orienting people to understand and appreciate how Zimbabwe was won from colonial bondage and to guard against reactionary forces bent on mortgaging the country to imperial forces.

The need for an ideological devotion rooted in the pan-African ethos was fundamental in maintaining internal cohesion and ensuring the sustenance of the revolutionary spirit that led thousands of young men and women to join the liberation struggle.

The Chitepo Ideological School, which was formerly the Whampoa Ideological College, was the brainchild of Chrispen Mataire (nom de guerre David Todhlana), who was the first director of the school set up in 1975 to run wartime leadership and Marxist-Leninist studies.

The belief was that Zanu-PF cadres needed to have a sustainable ideological foundation that guides them in their conduct amongst themselves and also with the masses, including political education on the centrality of women’s rights in the liberation struggle.

The issue of women’s rights needs to be fully captured particularly the fact that the war effort did not know gender. Female and male cadres fought side by side. It is critical in the post-independence period for cadres to appreciate the need for upholding women’s rights.

Another issue that the governing party needs to address is ensuring that adequate human and material resources are made available for the generation of a critical mass of male and female revolutionary cadres aspiring for different positions.

In post-colonial Zimbabwe, the enemy is no longer easily identifiable as he is now camouflaged in enticing robes. The governing party must understand that the war was about the establishment of a new social justice system. Unless Zanu-PF understands this, it risks becoming a conduit for imperialist ideals through neo-colonial forces.

There is need to cherish and nourish Zanu-PF so that it remains a strong revolutionary movement that neo-colonial forces find impenetrable to execute their machinations.

It is encouraging to note that the Chitepo Ideological School is not targeting just ordinary party cadres but even those aspiring for public offices like Members of Parliament.

A situation had arisen where those who assumed leadership positions within and outside the party had no appreciation and understanding of the party’s foundational ethos. This created serious rifts between those who believed that such foundational ethos was sacrosanct not only in ensuring that the revolutionary party maintained its roots but was essential in gluing party members together.

Some Members of Parliament had come into Parliament through waivers without even entering party structures.

Realising that a potentially retrogressive situation was manifesting itself through various forms of indiscipline, Zanu-PF Chief Chip Cde Lovemore Matuke was instrumental in ensuring that MPs were prioritised in terms of orienting them towards the revolutionary party’s history including its foundational ethos.

It must become mandatory for anyone aspiring for any position within and outside the party to pass through the ideological school and this must as a matter of necessity cascade down to ordinary members.

The rationale behind this mandatory re-orientation is an awareness of the flippancy of members, some senior, who appeared like they were on a mission to refashion the revolutionary party from its foundational ideological framework that sustained it during the rigorous years of the liberation struggle.

It is hoped that the Chitepo Ideological School’s influence will transcend party boundaries. There is need to roll out enlightening educational discourses to all sectors of the country.

The Chitepo Ideological School has been effective since the Second Chimurenga and it is that academic rigour and ideological mastery that made the struggle resolute.

The ideological school must utilise the knowledge of surviving cadres who were the founding graduates of the college during the war. It is also important to tap into the experience and knowledge of its founding director, Cde Chris Mataire, who is still alive and an active member of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans’ Association.