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Freedom Mutanda
Post Correspondent
THEY say life begins at 40.
Following that line of thought, Zimbabwe is a fledgling independent country.
Ninety years of colonial rule came to a shuddering halt on April 18, 1980. A reflection of these 43 years is in order.
There were grievances which made the second leg of fighting for independence begin in earnest in the early 1960s, starting with the Melsetter (Chimanimani) incident, resulting in the killing of Pieter Johannes Andries Oberholzer in July 1964.
By that time, ZAPU and ZANU sent cadres outside the country to friendly nations for training and President Mnangagwa is one of the young men who heeded the ‘Clarion call for war’ made in 1964 at the inaugural ZANU Gwelo Congress.
This resulted in the waging of the protracted liberation struggle against the white settlers regime.
Independence finally came on April 18, 1980.
After a protracted war against each other, it was inevitable that there would be tension between whites and blacks.
To the credit of the new leadership at independence, reconciliation as a policy was promulgated.
In Ken Flower’s ‘Serving Secretly,’ he writes about his conversation with President Mnangagwa who was the Security Minister at the time and the chat does not have the sting of belligerents.
It was a mark of genius to integrate three former enemies into a single entity-reconciliation at play.
Last year, President Mnangagwa made a volte-face in the spirit of inclusivity.
He has persistently said no one is supposed to be left behind.
President Mnangagwa conferred national hero status on former ZANU president, Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole and James Chikerema, liberation stalwarts whose exploits had been ignored after their deaths.
By one stroke of the pen, President Mnangagwa had righted a wrong which marked a departure from the politics of hate.
Inclusivity brings forth development.
There was a time when tribe meant a lot to people but the world has since evolved to such a level that we should be asking what expertise do you bring to the table than from which tribe one comes from.
As the country continues on a growth trajectory, land has always been a sticking point between the two races, with the Land Apportionment Act of 1930 jutting out like a sore thumb.
Around this area, the Lancaster House Agreement nearly collapsed, with the whites unwilling to relinquish their stranglehold on the precious resource which for years has been the lifeblood of indigenes.
Resettlement occurred in fits and starts in the first decade of independence, largely because of the ‘Willing buyer-willing seller’ clause inserted into the Lancaster House Agreement which ensured that there won’t be wholesale revolution in land distribution without an express approval from the farmers themselves.
That was to end in 1992 as the Land Acquisition Act was passed.
Notwithstanding the passage of the Act meant for compulsory taking of unused land, the pedestrian approach to land redistribution continued.
In 1998, Svosve villagers took matters into their own hands by attempting to take over land belonging to Hunyani Estate.
They were driven away.
Then, came the Fast Track Land Reform Programme in 2000.
In some circles, it was called the Third Chimurenga. More than 300 000 families benefited from it.
While the reform resulted in sanctions being imposed on the country by the Western world, that did not detract Government from the vision of democratising land ownership in the country.
With the advent of the Second Republic, emphasis on production has been the buzz word and that gave birth to innovative farming methods such as Pfumvudza, which has improved the country’s food security.
Land is a finite resource. It must be maximised and that is what the leadership and people of Zimbabwe are doing.
In education, the democratisation of that sector from 1980 onwards is one of the greatest gains of independence.
As a domestic policy, the new majority ruled Government led by the founding father, the late President Mugabe, ensured that the country was among the top Africa elite literate nations.
In most rural areas, access to secondary education was out of reach of many children.
However, with the onset of independence, a lot of rural day secondary schools sprouted; consequently, thousands if not millions of black children changed their lives for the better after accessing education.
Currently, the Education 5.0 Policy has produced industrial schools at all levels of education.
It all started with ZIMFEP (Zimbabwe Foundation of Education with Production) in 1980, which anchored education on visible products in line with Vision 2030 where the country seeks to be nestled among the list of upper middle income countries.
As the country moves towards April 18, a good question to ask yourself is: What am I doing to make Zimbabwe a better place for everybody?
Consolidating the gains of independence should be the primary focus of every Zimbabwean.
Online Reporter