Online Reporter
Elliot Ziwira
THERE exists in all of us that goodness, which cannot be constrained, no matter how bad others may view us, or we pretend to be.
Taken as human beings, we are capable of bringing harm to others. However, we are not immune to hurt. What qualifies our being is that we are guided by conscience, because, after all, deep inside, we are good people.
As the Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Carl Jung (1875-1961) once said: “Deep down, below the surface of the average man’s conscience, he hears a voice whispering, ‘There is something not right,’ no matter how much his rightness is supported by public opinion or moral code.”
Yes, we may have our differences; we may face challenges; we may have grievances. We may be discontented, even, but there is something wrong with the way we sometimes express our grievances. Something is not right either, in the way we at times clamour for an eye for an eye.
It only makes us all blind.
As we mark Unity Day this December, we should go beyond our differences and be part of a collective dialogue aimed at finding solutions to our challenges.
Each one of us has a role to play in taking the nation-state to that desired future time.
Imagine what we can achieve if we combine the resilience in you, my sister, coupled with your motherly glow; your robust attitude, brother; our little brother’s intellect and analytical prowess; our great friend’s business acumen, and our mother’s never-say-die spirit.
Just envisage the formidable fortress that we will be able to build for our descendants.
Has it ever occurred to you that a man whose heart harbours vengeance as opposed to forgiveness cannot also forgive himself? As such, he is the one who suffers the most.
In his mortal struggle against himself, he not only inflicts pain on himself, but the resultant scars will always be evident years after his death.
A man who engages in combat against himself is he who looks in the mirror and sees a man of colour, a white man, an Asian, a Ndebele, Zezuru, Karanga, Korekore, Tonga, Venda or a Manyika, instead of seeing a Zimbabwean.
We pride ourselves for being peace-loving and tolerant.
Is that what is reflected when we take a closer look at ourselves in the mirror? The scars that we inflict on ourselves and others are they not a true reflection of our nature?
A few months before his assassination on October 15, 1987, the Burkinabe revolutionary, Thomas Sankara, said: “While revolutionaries as individuals may be murdered (or die), it is difficult to kill ideas.”
A lot can be discerned here, in relation to the African story in general, and pertinently the Zimbabwean one.
Revolutionaries like Joshua Nkomo, Robert Mugabe, Julius Nyerere, Samora Machel, Amilcar Cabral, Kwame Nkrumah and Josiah Tongogara, as individuals may exit the scene, but their ideas will remain behind as a legacy.
Individuals, per se, are not greater than their own ideas, for they are outlived by them. So, the ideas that they leave behind may not only be a true reflection of their nature but may also surpass even their own expectations.
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It suffices that a revolutionary, as a mortal being, departs the world, but the revolution remains. Hence, as a product of the revolution, the revolutionary is not greater than it.
As it is premised on ideology, the revolution is inheritable. That is why it remains perpetually on course after the departure of its pioneers, who are mere mortals.
Revolutionary leaders should always implore their lieutenants of the folly of dangling the ethnic carrot in the face of the people, as this is detrimental to nation-building.
It leads to the collapse of the nation-state as Franz Fanon points out in “The Wretched of the Earth” (1967): “This tribalising of the central authority, it is certain, encourages regionalist ideas and separatism.”
African leaders, as the custodians of the revolution, are answerable to the people — the owners of the revolution.
The peace we are enjoying in this country has been a result of our leadership’s ability to play down the ethnic scourge through the signing of the Unity Accord on December 22, 1987.
Political careers that hinge on regionalism not only scathe individuals, but the wounds are also a great pain to the entire nation. It fans acrimony and violence.
Those with true political clout should have their mettle tested in the national fray, instead of bullying others in the provinces.
The scriptures tell us that a prophet is never appreciated in his own town. This in itself does not mean that he ceases to be a prophet.
It simply means that he should spread his wings and help others besides those from his own community.
If he remains in his hometown, his prophecies will become questionable as they will not be clearly separated from reality, the reality that he already knows. But if his reputation grows in other provinces, as is the case with true prophets, then, naturally, he remains a hero in his home area.
The late nationalist and Vice-President Joshua Nkomo earned the title Father Zimbabwe because of his unifying ideas. Despite his ethnic background, which could have limited him had he chosen to, his star shone brightest in Harare, formerly Salisbury, where his political career took shape.
The values that he embraced as a Zimbabwean and not a descendant of a single ethnic group brought not only freedom to Zimbabweans, but the much-needed Unity Accord of 1987.
Hence, all Zimbabweans who cherish their country should know that a divided team will never win any competition, for it is prone to outside interference.
President Mnangagwa’s dream has always been unity, prosperity and peace for his people since it is this that consolidates the economic freedoms enshrined in the revolution.
Individuals are not the alpha and omega of all that is Zimbabwean, because this sod of soil belongs to all of us.
This December and beyond, therefore, we should embrace each other as a nation and desist from erecting ethnic barriers against each other as siblings are wont to do. It is that which gives us pride as a people and helps in preserving the gains of our liberation struggle, knowing that constructive divergent views do not always constitute enmity.
