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Michael Mhlanga
We are entering a month whose prophecy is enveloped in Mzwakhe Mbuli’s “The day shall dawn” where no violence, both systemic and systematic should find residence among us.
From here on, prescribed social organisations used to identify ourselves aggressively different should be reduced obsolete.
As the nation commemorates the protagonists of the liberation struggle, a struggle which proceeded to embed the pillars of what Zimbabwe today calls its ideological brass, it is imperative for every Zimbabwean to celebrate this month, not only as a historical occasion but rather as an ideological premise that should govern the Republic’s approach to the voyage ahead of the nation.
This year’s celebration conveniently complements the nation’s outstanding call for economic reconstruction, patriotism and national unity; in this regard, the nation should mirror the Umvukela memory as a platform to reboot national commitments, as such projecting the moment as an excuse for creating a conducive policy environment founded on patriotic policy acceptance attitudes.
Contrary to the general apprehension of this month which has been used as a platform to narrate historical events, this year’s unique celebration reflects on the successful implementation of Operation Restore Legacy and over a year since elections.
It is suffice to say that this August should liberate the Umvukela/Chimurenga legacy from being one of those meaningless gatherings characterised by fraudulent elucidations of historical narratives to accommodate rogue elements in Zimbabwe’s governance architecture.
This year’s heroes’ celebration should not only remind Zimbabweans of what transpired in the liberation struggle, it should be another reminder of the task that befalls Zimbabwe from this day going further.
It rejuvenates the pledge that was made by both standing and fallen heroes, the oath to make Zimbabwe a better place, to make the Republic a centre of freedom as even embraced by the conceptual title given to the movement.
As Zimbabweans rejoice becoming Zimbabwe on this year’s nationalist commemorations, we must also spare some time to spend on the full meaning and significance of the liberation struggle which is an event enclosed in the aspirations of Zimbabweans. A tune from the Economic Freedom Fighters Jazz hour is the melody of Izwe lami led by an energetic Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi.
The melody cedes the fundamentals of dying for our land. It is the inspirational young voices that foster a remembrance that it is the young and restless who died for this land, likewise, the struggle should continue and the present fruits should be jealously guarded.
You will not doubt that from the Third Chimurenga, our principal aim was effective state ownership, the empowerment of the citizen and most importantly the beginning of an end to the systemic economic retrogression which was confronting the nation in a very sophisticated format.
The inconsistency between the majority and national development which is tantamount to policy inconsistency had to be abolished.
Through the recollection of patriotic memories made by the gallant sons and daughters who sacrificed their lives to give an ideological meaning to the phenomenon of nativity in Zimbabwe, the 2000 policy commitments were achieved.
In this regard, the liberation struggle has proved to be an unwavering tower for national salvation, as such, amid the many questions Zimbabwe finds itself in today such as national continuity, equitable income redistribution and veneration of Nzira Dzemasoja (The melo-philosophical rendition of national behaviour expected of all students and loyalists of the Republic).
The Republic must not hesitate to retrospect into the legacy of the liberation struggle for answers. This is the part I refer you to the song Nzira Dzemasoja, let us ask ourselves today: Have we trodden on the nzira? Perhaps the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission is more effective at an opportune time; to return us to the “nzira yemasoja”.
Sadly disquieting in this land is how the meaning of this month does not find place and space in Opposition cabinets of thinking. It is the same institution that masquerades as convicts of national pride, patriotism and vanguards of the national culture. It gets shoddier when the statement issued by those who claim to be young and “woke” disperses them from the majority that celebrates the lost lives and souls on a day that should inform nation building.
What they miss is that beyond the fighter, the legacy of the liberation struggle should be assimilated into the nation’s culture, strategically to accommodate everyone.
Lest we forget, this legacy was motivated by the settler attitudes towards the natives whose value system was bedevilled by intolerable imbalances, inequities and antagonistic contradictions, as such the logic still applies today.
Therefore against this understanding, this year’s celebrations are to be unique, they should be a fulfilment of the pledge that was made from the 1896 Umvukela, to the April 1980 declaration of independence. It was the oath to serve the Republic in a progressive manner founded on good governance. Mind you, good governance is not mono-directional, although the Government has a task to assemble its handles, the citizen must complement the establishment in pursuit of Zimbabwe’s patriotic goals.
The citizen is today faced with the challenge of shifting his/ her perspectives from the reductionist attitude, to a more co-operative conception of state affairs. Beyond the citizen being a recipient of national thought, this year’s political environment pushes the citizen to become the bearer of the ideology and become the ideology itself. The liberation struggle is an elastic phenomenon, every national aspiration can be accommodated, regardless of the nature of the ambition.
The Umvukela thought in its democratic origins can tolerate and house everyone, nonetheless in its nationalistic formation it will always oppose any contradictions to the long term commitments of the republic. Not much is missing to achieve this, it is only a deficit of a national positive attitude towards protection and development of our country — we are not far from being where we should be.
The definitive moment should get rid of public complacency within which public service should be a patriotic duty manned by the best minds on the land, ready to make Zimbabwe great again — these were the aspirations of the Unknown Soldier.
Online Reporter