Online Reporter
Dr Obert Moses Mpofu
A PROPER ideological inclination is the compass that guides a people towards their desired goal.
Our people had for so long existed under an exploitative system that sought to ensure they remained chained for eternity.
It is only after attaining political independence that we realised the need to further free our people from the colonial mindset.
Total emancipation would never be achieved without decolonising the minds of our people.
This process, which I must admit should have been initiated even earlier than we did, is a tedious one that we must assiduously carry out and complete.
But again, anything worthwhile must not be done hurriedly.
Indeed, it took a while for us to come up with a proper diagnosis of what truly needed to be done.
And after careful thought, we did realise that it was our minds as Africans that needed freeing, and to do that, we had to unlearn much of what we learned from our former colonisers.
The system was indeed rigged to make us feel that we would never prosper on our own.
This is why it is important to revisit this travesty and make the necessary corrections.
The fate of future generations rests on the success of this very necessary exercise.
Zimbabwe has a youthful population, which is convenient, as the minds of the youth are much simpler to train.
The right kind of ideology is essential for maintaining the gains of our struggle.
It is the ideology that drives one towards working for the party and people.
Often, we tend to take ideological impartation as a one-off process.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The right ideology, which is derived from the party’s correct line, is something that should be treated with the importance it deserves.
There are no trade-offs, and this is why the party is heavily investing in ensuring Zimbabweans from all walks of life are equipped with the appropriate ideology.
This is an essential step to decolonise the mind of the Africans.
We can only rest when our people espouse the right ideology and free their minds from propaganda from our erstwhile colonisers.
Once ideology is planted it becomes a seed that grows on our people and its fruits will last for an eternity.
It is, therefore, important to always refer to the party’s values.
Maintaining the right kind of ideology requires constant and consistent revision in a process to recondition the mind to maintain the right ideology.
Such a process is crucial for ensuring that we do not lose our way.
Along the journey towards self-determination, there are those who may deviate from the correct line.
We should not let our people perish because of lack of the appropriate ideology. We need not worry much about how perfect our system is, as long as it brings positive change.
We have been making steady progress thus far and we have achieved so much on our own.
Such achievements will only be driven by people who have the right mindset and ideology to sustain positive change.
The founding fathers of some prominent nations on our continent had the foresight and sought to ensure that future generations would truly be free and emancipated.
The likes of Kwame Nkrumah, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, Nelson Mandela and our very own Robert Mugabe all had grand ideas for dealing with colonialism.
They were so sure that it could be done and set in motion steps that have culminated in significant progress so far.
These luminaries succeeded because of their staunch ideological grounding.
For former President Mugabe, the recognition of February 21 as a day dedicated to the youth of this country in his memory demonstrates the role he played in imparting the right kind of ideology to our people, particularly the young.
We must instil as much of the right ideology within our youth so that they pass it on to those who will come after them as well.
This is how successful nations are built and people’s aspirations become a reality.
Dr Obert Moses Mpofu is an academic and the Secretary-General of ZANU PF. He writes in his own capacity.
