Chronicle Editor
Dr Obert Moses Mpofu, Opinion
In hardly less than a fortnight His Excellency President Mnangagwa leased Bulawayo a lasting historical glow mark as he officiated the first ever national Independence Day celebrations in Bulawayo.
In so doing, he indelibly imprinted his name in the history of this country as a symbol of genuine nation-building in post-independent Zimbabwe.
He has achieved what many leaders from this region have failed to do. To bluntly put it, in the few years of his tenure in office, he has done what the Unity Accord failed to do.
Today, exactly eleven days after his gracing this city for Uhuru celebrations, he is officiating the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF).
This double date with Bulawayo crudely erodes the hallow national unity politicking we have endured since independence. His second coming to Bulawayo this month arrests the regionalist propaganda used by reactionaries addicted to the politics of polarisation.
For too long regionalism has been used as an elixir for baseless disgruntlements sustaining the rift between Zanu-PF and Bulawayo.
The rehearsed discourse of marginalisation has been imposed on our people to give a false disconnect of Harare from Bulawayo.
But President Mnangagwa has reversed that mistruth by expressing his wish to ”de-marginalise” Bulawayo.
Actually, that divide is aimed at dissuading us from realising the unity we have as the people of Zimbabwe outside regional boundaries.
True to his commitment to national unity, in 2019 President Mnagagwa directly commissioned the convening of Independence Day Celebrations in Bulawayo.
As such, the 40th Uhuru anniversary merriments were set to be celebrated in the City of Kings and Queens koBulawayo.
However, Covid-19 restrictions arrested that inaugural prospect of national celebrations decentralisation which was initially earmarked for Bulawayo.
All the same, this two year belated and befitting occasion of President Mnangagwa’s officiation of the 42nd Independence celebrations is priceless.
The departure of the Independence Day Celebrations from the traditional Harare venue was also illuminated by the pluralism which punctuated the celebrations.
Opposition leaders were part of the invited guests. Through this insignia it was clear that, the 18th of April is a day so dear to all patriotic Zimbabweans from all walks of life.
By virtue of being Zimbabwe’s birthday, 18 April – against all odds unites us in our diversities.
The 42nd Uhuru celebrations under the theme, ”Leaving no one and no place behind,” accentuated the inclusive policy trajectory of the Second-Republic.
This inter-party consensual green-light to unity can only be disregarded by those with an affinity for the re-marginalisation of Bulawayo contrary to President Mnangagwa’s de-marginalisation agenda.
As a precedent, the celebration of our independence outside Harare is a phenomena which should be carried over for future generations to establish a common denomination to patriotism as derived from our spirit of independence.
There’s no doubt that in the past provinces have converged to celebrate Independence Day with their residential state ministers taking a leading role in the process, but the idea of having a national events provincially rotated gives a pragmatic impetus to embracing our national diversity.
This is a necessary in stressing the magnitude of the unity we derive from our diversity as the people of Zimbabwe.
This is key in substantiating Zanu-PF’s sincere commitment to promoting the unity of our people. It goes without saying that we have been historically divided due to conflicts carried from our past into our contemporary politics.
In the past, we have been found comfort in cosmetic claims to national unity, but the Second Republic has turned around that crisis of history to an optimistic transformative point of our way of doing things.
History has proved that beyond rhetoric, unity is achieved when those who have felt marginalised are accorded the opportunity to be at the centre of stage of national processes and development initiatives. Therefore, Bulawayo’s turn to convene
Zimbabwe’s independence celebrations evidently signalled government’s confidence in the province as an alternative centre of development outside Harare.
The Independence Day celebrations in other provinces next year will serve as another open gesture by the Second Republic to fully express that the centre does not only reside in Harare.
In other words, the days of the ceremonial charades of the Unity Accord are over. President Mnangagwa is re-inventing the future of this nation and uniting us beyond fictitious terms of political convenience concealed bygone agendas of hegemony.
The roaring ovations which President Mnangagwa got from the terraces of Barbourfields Stadium as he inspected the guard of honour by the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) on Independence Day are clear to any discerning political mind that the man captured the heart of the Bulawayo voter.
His coming to the ZITF consolidates that Emagumeni momentum; likewise, he is definitely going to sweep up the remnant Bulawayo vote from those ideologically lethargic political parties which have perennially sold the retarded Matabeleland marginalisation propaganda.
Your Excellency, congratulations for your role in integrating Bulawayo to the broader agenda of national development. This will send shivers to those political parties which lie to the people that Bulawayo has never been a development priority for Zanu-PF since the birth of the New Dispensation.
Thanks to ED the Game Changer. His message is clear bantu bakithi, ”Ilizwe lakhiwa ngabanikazi”. Masakhe!!!
The author, Dr Obert Moses Mpofu is Zanu-PF’s Secretary for Administration in the Politburo.
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