Online Reporter
Dr Obert Moses Mpofu
A PROPER ideological inclination is the campus that guides a people towards their desired end goal. Our people had for so long existed under a warped system that sought to ensure that they would be chained for eternity.
It was only after attaining “physical” independence that we realised the need to further free our people from the colonial mindset. Total emancipation would never be achieved without freeing 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 meticulously carry out and see to it that it is completed. But again, anything worthwhile must not be hurriedly done. Indeed it took a while for us to introspect and 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 that, we had to unlearn much of what we learnt from the former colonisers. The system was indeed rigged and made to make us feel like we would never prosper on our own. The African, according to their design, was never meant to prosper in the land of their ancestors. This is why it is important to revisit this travesty and make the necessary corrections.
The fate of our future generations rests on the success of this very necessary exercise. Zimbabwe has a youthful and young population, and this on its own is an asset as the minds of the youth are much simpler to train and impart knowledge.
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 the people. Often times we tend to take ideological impartation as a once off process. This is 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 that it deserves. There are no trade-offs and this is why the Party is investing heavily in ensuring that Zimbabweans from all walks of life are imparted with the appropriate ideology. This is an essential step for the purpose of decolonising the mind of the African which has been subdued for so long by the colonialists and their doctrine.
When our people are fully equipped with the right ideology and their minds freed from the jaws and propaganda of our erstwhile colonisers, only then will we rest. It rests upon every single one of us, who bore the colonial injustices to do the needful. The beauty about ideology is that once it 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 back to the Party’s values so as not to deviate from the right thing.
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 ways. Along the journey towards self determination, there are those who may deviate from the correct line. As with the popular biblical connotation, “My people perish because of lack of knowledge” we should not let our people perish because of the lack of the appropriate ideology.
We need not worry much about how perfect our system is as long as it brings in 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 and made possible by our people possessing the adequate mindset and proper ideology for sustaining positive change.
The founding fathers of some of the 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 busting colonialism then, as well as for future generations which they implemented.
They were so sure that it could be done and set in motion steps that have culminated in measurable progress so far. As a matter of fact, these luminaries succeeded because of their staunch ideological grounding. For former President Cde Mugabe, the recognition of 21 February as a day dedicated to the youth of this country in his memory demonstrates the role he played in terms of imparting the right kind of ideology in 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. However, this is not a once-off process and we should constantly revisit and reaffirm this ideology we would have instilled so that it lasts an eternity.
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.
