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Elliot Ziwira
Senior Writer
The story of the liberation struggle cannot be complete without reference to Mashonaland Central, particularly Mt Darwin, which is one of the eight districts in the province.
It is a story of selfless struggle spurred on by the desire to ignite an eternal flame that would outlive freedom fighters as mortals.
Consumed by the spirit of Independence, the spirit of love, determination, collective unity and gallantry, embodied in the Eternal Flame at the National Heroes Acre in Harare, the people of Mt Darwin, and indeed, all the folks from the province, feel honoured to have the Flame kindled by President Mnangagwa on their soil to mark 43 years of Independence for the Motherland.
It is this Flame, lit on Independence Day on April 18, 1980 at Rufaro Stadium in Harare, and taken to Harare Hill where the so-called Pioneer Column hoisted the Union Jack on September 12, 1890, marking the end of colonialism, that will be kindled at Chibondo shrine.
Mt Darwin, home to Chibondo, a symbol of the brutality of Ian Smith’s colonial regime, is one of the eight districts in the province that greatly contributed to the liberation struggle.
On a visit to gauge the mood ahead of the maiden celebrations outside Harare and Bulawayo recently, The Herald team became a part of the consuming spirit of freedom.
Alive was an eternal passion for patriotism born of self-sacrifice, and the desire to unshackle a whole people from the clutches of colonialism, expressed through hard work.
In either direction that could take the eye’s fancy, a storyteller’s cache lay as a tale recalcitrant in humming sounds cemented the bond between the human soul and machine.
The hive of activity was Mt Darwin High School, about 156km north of Harare, with the Pfura mountain range about 10km to the southwest as the crow flies, and Chibondo further west.
A stone’s throw to the east lay Murenga Village, with Chitse Mountain, a war-time sanctuary for freedom fighters in Nyamanja Village, a gaze to the north.
Refusing to remain harnessed, the story unhooked itself from the foot of Mt Pfura, past the riverbed and banks of the once roaring Mukaradzi River, the home of gold in Chief Matope’s dominion, and Mt Darwin District Heroes Acre to the west, to spread itself on a stretch of land sloping into Mupfure River to the east, decommissioned Chesa Way Dam to the south, and the Ridgeview suburb of Kandeya Township to the northwest.
Embodied in the workforce spread-out on the main arena and its fringes, the earthmoving equipment, sprinklers and the enthusiastic locals who have come to witness history in motion, was the spirit of Independence, which emboldens all to celebrate the legacy of sacrifice, hard work and resilience.
Some were offloading instant lawn from one or two trucks coming at 30-minute or so intervals into wheelbarrows with handlers at the ready, and some were laying the turf, while others were spreading lime and spraying pesticides on the newly laid grass.
No sooner was the lawn laid than the seven heavy-duty strategically placed sprinklers soaked it.
The eye being a curious witness, could also get enthralled in the constructive destruction of earthmovers loyally responding to the instructions of their capable handlers, adding a strain to the harmonious reverberations – humming to the tune of freedom.
A modern pitch, modelled on the National Sports Stadium in Harare, complete with a green turf, changing rooms, ablution facilities and a rubberised running track was taking shape, making the locals, and all involved in the project so much proud.
Off the turf, workmen could also be seen putting final touches to the galvanised steel stands for the two 10 000-litre water tanks on the verges of Chatumbama Road.
The gravel road that snakes out from the north-western end of Mt Darwin centre, crosses Mupfure River in the eastern embankment, and passes Murenga Village to link up with Karanda Road was teeming with people.
There was so much activity along Chatumbama, as locals criss-crossed from either side of the river to partake in the historic activities of their time in one way or the other.
Women, some of whom with bundles of firewood on their heads, and schoolchildren from Mt Darwin primary and secondary schools, were walking in groups, engaged in banter.
They are part of the story – their story – our story in which an eternal flame flickers on. It is this flame that forever flickers at a tower atop a hill adjacent to a rich valley about 7km west of the city centre of Harare.
Catching the eye of the wayfarer at night, with its persistent glow from a 40-metre obelisk, the flame not only aids the traveller, but consumes him with its spirit of recourse, which pulls him towards the hill.
Consuming him with its silent imploration of persistence, love and determination, the flame compels the traveller to take heed, and be part of the hill and its environs, without really forcing him to lose himself.
This is the Eternal Flame at the National Heroes Acre in Harare where gallantry is celebrated through recollection of the gory experiences of the liberation struggle to which thousands of gallant sons and daughters of the soil were lost.
Now, the Eternal Flame is perched on a towering 40-metre pillar, where it continues to flick to remind us of the many sacrifices that brought us the freedom we enjoy today.
Therefore, as we celebrate Independence Day today, we should desist from letting that spirit of oneness dissipate, for it is that Flame within us that keeps us together and spells out who we are.
We are a nation together, regardless of political or religious affiliation. Our heroes, whose spirits are resplendent in the Eternal Flame, fought for the politics of love; the religion of love and the culture of love.
They didn’t die in vain.
Zimbabwe is the only country we have. It is our Motherland, notwithstanding the challenges we face together.
We should be inspired by George William Curtis who said: “A man’s country is not a certain piece of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle; and patriotism is loyalty to that principle.”
Yes, nationhood is built on principle and patriotism, and loyalty to that which makes us principled and patriotic. Our freedom fighters understood the meaning of struggle.
They believed in freedom. They believed in love, even beyond the grave. It takes more than sacrifice to put one’s life on the block for the love of others. It is like planting a fruit tree that may come to fruition long after the death of the planter. It is the quintessence of love.
Indeed, it is the nature of selfless love to remain loyal to a principle that may leave one dead; physically, yes, for heroes, true heroes of the soil do not die. They are the seed of life and the passion that glows in the Eternal Flame of freedom.
As in the words of anti-apartheid hero, Nelson Mandela, “When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice, but to become an outlaw.”
He becomes an outlaw in search of justice; the justice that recognises him as a man and not a “half-child” and “half-devil”, requiring the guidance of a warped racialist and imperialistic gang of aliens purporting to be God’s emissaries.
It is such a man or woman, whose never-say-die spirit is depicted in the Eternal Flame, termed a “terrorist” for refusing to remain caged, who has brought us the Independence we cherish today.
He/she is the kind of bird that Stephen King writes about thus: “Some birds are not meant to be caged, that’s all. Their feathers are too bright, their songs too sweet and wild.
“So you let them go, or when you open the cage to feed them, they somehow fly out past you” (Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption: A story from different seasons).
There are some among us, who would rather take us back in time, believing that colonialism, perchance, was better; because they are forgetful, or never experienced it first-hand.
Wisdom informs us that he who is chained cherishes the gift of freedom, but he who is free fantasises of the thrill of being fettered.
Freedom means a lot to those whose forefathers lost arms and limbs, and breathed their last in the trenches in a quest to wade away from the sinking ships of their dreams, yet remaining ensconced in the same aspirations that shape their destiny.
Full story on www.herald.co.zw
Such is the nature of loyalty, such is the nature of principle; and such is patriotism.
When people talk of freedom, they misconstrue it to other such flimsy variations that appear to be delusional; for the ultimate freedom is that which gives one access to a humane existence; the freedom to claim ownership of the means of production and all that makes it possible to live without merely existing.
It is the land that can only make all our dreams tenable, for it is the essence of life and prosperity, without which all our dreams are doomed.
And, it was the contentious issue of the land that led to the First Chimurenga of 1896 and the Second Chimurenga of the 1960s and 70s.
The glow in the Eternal Flame is symbolic of that spirit of freedom to be masters of our destiny as a people. We may be facing challenges, but we confront them together, conscious of the reality of our land; the reality that only we, as Zimbabweans understand and share.
Together we can conquer, that is the spirit that drove the liberation struggle; the same spirit can take us to that Promised Land. If we believe we can, then surely nothing can stop us. Our heroes—the freedom fighters, were cognisant of that fact.
They had so much faith in the new country, the new Zimbabwe. They so much believed in its existence that they put their lives on the block for the realisation of that nation where everyone would be a brother’s keeper, and a responsible citizen to book.
At a gathering in commemoration of our fallen heroes on August 12, 1986, ZAPU MP for Beitbridge Kembo Mohadi (now Vice President) said: “Those heroes who died during the struggle are sharing the same blanket, which is the soil covering them, and so they are united. What is stopping us from uniting too?” (The Herald, 13 August 1986).
Such inspirational words, such words of wisdom; indeed, if our heroes are united in death, died fighting for unity and equality, and believed in the sacredness of the land; our land, why should we drift apart, along conflicting streams?
In honour of our dearly departed selfless countrymen, therefore, let us keep the Eternal Flame burning, and find it within us to reflect on the meaning of patriotism, nay heroism.
It is more than sacrifice; it is the spirit to share a dream that may come to fruition even in our absence.
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