Thank you Mash Central for hosting our nation

President E.D. Mnangagwa

Path-breaking anniversary

LAST week, on Monday 17th and Tuesday 18th April, Mashonaland Central province’s Mt Pfura hosted our nation as it commemorated two foremost days on our national calendar, namely, our Independence and the Children’s Party that precedes it. This was the first time since 1980 that such momentous occasions were hosted by, and held at a rural district centre.

Zimbabweans from different corners of our country, drawing from different walks of life; Zimbabweans of all manner, colour, creed, language, tribe and culture converged at Mt Pfura Centre in Mashonaland Central.

What a time and occasion it turned out to be!

Celebrations in total peace

Our nation celebrated in total peace and calmness, with no incident of violence or any mishap reported over those two days as we marked 43 years of self-rule, democracy, stability, progress and development. Our host community, Mashonaland Central, gathered in huge numbers, ready to make sure we were all welcomed and looked after. It was truly memorable.

Thank you Mashonaland Central!

We owe it to our rural communities

Over those two happy days, we took commemorations of our hard-won Independence back to the province and to communities that had suffered longest and endured some of the worst atrocities for that glorious day to come.

We owed it to them, and I am happy that this troubling debt has finally been symbolically paid, so many years into our Independence.

A debt too big to pay

Except it is a debt that remains partly paid until all rural communities which make up our nation, and which, thus, played a direct role in the national struggle as it took its protracted, tortuous and bloody course, have had a chance to concretely own and physically host our Independence Day.

And until development reaches every nook and cranny of the remotest of our rural areas, themselves theatres of the War of Liberation.

Emulating sister Republic of Uganda

The thought of revolving venues for festivities marking our Independence came to mind after my visit a few years ago to the sister Republic of Uganda, on the occasion of its National Day. Unlike what had become a tradition for us here in Zimbabwe, the Ugandans, under President Yoweri Museveni and the governing National Resistance Movement, whose history of armed struggle echoes our own history, decided long before to decentralise and devolve commemorations of their National Day, thus yearly taking them to different communities, including the remotest and the least developed.

We thought this was a noble idea worth emulating. As a result, we began moving commemorations of our Independence away from the capital last year, when, for the first time, we held them in Bulawayo, our second largest city.

The war was fought in the countryside

Except this was still in an urban setting, where basic amenities are available. How were we to take our Independence festivities to rural centres, whose limited infrastructure could not support a national gathering? While it was quite easy to determine the next host province for our National Day, we pondered long and hard the best venue which would send a clear statement of gratitude to communities that had sacrificed incomparably in the execution of the armed phase of our Liberation Struggle, itself largely a countryside affair.

It was then that a decision was taken to move the celebrations to Mt Pfura/Darwin Centre, which lay painfully close to Chibondo, itself a harrowing site of Rhodesian atrocities during our Struggle.

Independence did not come cheap

Like I indicated in previous articles, we sought to make a strong statement of reconnection with the painful story of the birth of our nation, thus reminding all and sundry that this day did not come cheap at all. Above all, we wanted the rest of our people to stay reminded on the role rural communities played towards the birth of our Independence, and, thus, on how, in spite of their modest and often unspoken expectations, they merit special, nay even preferential attention, in national development. These rural communities are, after all, home to the majority of our people.

Speaking through our children

On 17th April, the first day of the celebrations, over 7 000 children drawn from all our 10 provinces gathered at Mt Pfura for the traditional Children’s Party. There was a lot of song, dance and drama, leading to boundless merriment. Above all, through these children, our nation spoke to itself in its various tongues, speech forms and acts, all the time exhibiting striking sensibilities. As the children mixed and mingled, they were able to situate themselves within the national fold, under one flag, singing one national anthem.

It solidified our unity, whose fertile ground and guarantor are our children, the promise and future of our nation. Through all those children who attended the Children’s Party, I convey my deepest, heartfelt thanks to the children of Zimbabwe in all families and communities that make up our rich nation. I am very pleased that the children have all made it safely back home, without single incident.

I, too, thank their teachers who looked after them throughout the festive period and continue to do so in all our educational institutions.

Remembering and honouring our veterans

At Mt Pfura Centre, we made sure veterans of the Armed Struggle, principally those who served in echelons of command of both ZANLA and ZIPRA, were represented. Many of our commanders have passed away, but a few who remain were with us at Mt Pfura. We have taken the decision that they must be in attendance during all our national days.

The debt we owe them is irrepayable. This is the least we can do to honour them. Through them and through our former Vice President, Amai Joice Teurai Ropa Mujuru, widow of our late Commander and National Hero, General Solomon “Rex” Mujuru, I want to thank all our veterans for this great day which they made, and for honouring our invitation. Through such commemorations, we honour them.

Thank you, our traditional leaders

Our traditional leaders, led by the chiefs and masvikiro, were in attendance. Our Liberation War and Struggle was deeply spiritual, and our masvikiro connected us to our forebears who led the First War of Resistance — the First Chimurenga/Umvukela. Throughout the war, they always reminded us of prophecies made before our time, whose fulfilment became our task and mission. It was common practice during our War of Liberation to secure the blessings and benediction of traditional and spiritual leaders in any one area before operations began.

Indeed, both in Zambia and Mozambique, we had spiritual figures who made our Struggle connect with its long-deceased forerunners and its future. The presence of traditional leaders at Mt Pfura on this solemn occasion of our National Day was, thus, as fitting as it was reassuring. We must walk in step with our roots and traditions, both of which give us distinct character as a people and nation.

A nation of faiths

Church personages joined us, drawing from different faiths and denominations. We remain a nation of faiths; indeed, a nation towards whose becoming the Church writ large played a key role, both in raising and shaping our national consciousness, and in supporting our struggle for Independence.

Barely two weeks before, I had attended a Centenary Celebration of Catholic Jesuits at St Joseph’s, Kezi, in Matabeleland South. Some of the church leaders had met with us in Zambia, during the Liberation Struggle, to remind us of the importance of national unity.

Blessing our nation

I also spent a day with Wesleyans, before joining one of the independent African churches, the Zion Christian Church (ZCC), at their headquarters in Bikita. Founder bishops of almost all these independent African Apostolic churches had long prophesied the coming of our Independence, even getting persecuted for those prophesies. Many of our cadres came from such traditions of the church and mission schools, which also hosted them, fed and healed them in times of injuries.

The Church remains an integral part of our Independence; we are happy it joined us at Mt Pfura. I want to thank all our churches for this positive and supportive disposition on the occasion of our National Day, and for their daily prayers for the timeless continuance of our nation and its spiritual well-being.

United political society

I was humbled by the presence at the Mt Pfura festivities of leaders from different political parties, collectively grouped under the umbrella of Political Actors Dialogue, POLAD.

These are leaders who, soon after our 2018 elections, took the positive and laudable step of joining hands with the winning Party and our Government to push forward peace, unity and development in our nation. They boldly decided on, and charter, a new course for our nation, previously threatened and held back by election-related rancour and divisions. Because of that noble stance which they took, the reflex of reconciling winners and losers after any election is gathering root in our national politics and political character.

With time, it shall abide. Indeed, such broad, non-partisan participation makes all our national events truly national, embodying the sense and conviction that there is always a united nation after every plebiscite. I heartily thank all our political leaders who graced this all-important national event.

Synergies in the public sector

Our civil servants, led by my Office and several Government ministries, went all out to ensure all was in place for these two important days. They worked closely with numerous service providers who made various inputs towards this great event. I thank them heartily, including departments that made sure landmark roads and other physical infrastructures were in place, ahead of those two days. I cannot thank them enough.

Thanking our security establishment

Our security establishment discharged its role admirably. We all felt secure, which is why everything proceeded smoothly, without incident. They went beyond the call of duty and made sure Zimbabwe and Zimbabweans were safe: by way of lives, limbs, on roads, in cities, towns, at growth points and communities, as, indeed, they always do. They also made sure all ceremonies and displays were done with remarkable precision, even treating us to breath-taking acrobatics. That gave our Independence commemorations colour and a gripping carnivalesque mood. Again, I heartily thank all our security arms for the remarkable synergies and admirable execution of their duties.

The land of song, dance, other performatives

In the same vein, I thank all our artistes, led by our musicians, who headlined the Independence Gala. I thoroughly enjoyed mass displays made by learners drawn from local schools. I was able to watch part of the musical gala on the screen, until sleep stole and overcame me. I went to rest fully satisfied that here was a nation at peace, jubilantly celebrating a day it treasures.

Thank you all, our artistes, in your different categories and genres. You truly kept up the spirit of celebration through displays, drama, song and dance, harkening to those days of our struggle. Indeed, Zimbabwe is the land of song, dance and other creative art forms, which Government must support.

Setting a precedent on hosting national events

A precedent has now been set by Mt Pfura. Going forward, we have no excuse to keep national festivities restricted to cities and towns. All communities must own and play host to our national events, so none is left behind and uninvolved. As we decentralise the hosting of these national events, we must also leave commemorative footprints in these communities by way of new structures and modern amenities, which will forever remind those communities that once upon a time, they hosted our whole nation as it remembered and celebrated.

Again, thank you Mt Pfura and Mashonaland Central as a whole for hosting a resoundingly successful National Day.