Unsung Hero:

Morris Mtisi
LAST year this time on our national calendar, I wrote feature stories on one hero among many, one Cde Tendai Pfepferere who was killed in cold blood by Ian Smith’s terrorists at St Augustine’s affectionately known as KwaTsambe.

On this fateful night, August 5, 1979, a gallant son of Zimbabwe fighting to free his motherland from the shackles of colonialism fell in a choice to die so that students would live.

I wrote about how I was not sleeping to tell this story of selfless dedication in the way of a feature film. I wrote about how it was my wish that the story of how young men and women, boys and girls flooded out of schools to fight for their country’s freedom and personal dignity.

I wrote about how I was disturbed by slogans, poems and songs celebrating war heroes without initiating tangible and useful projects to symbolize and champion the cause of conscious patriotism.

I wrote about how I strongly felt singing, dancing, heavy drinking, eating and mere rewriting stories we have heard more than enough times during Heroes Holidays is not the best we can do for our fallen heroes.

I also wrote about how I thought a little bit of thinking, rather than routine reporting would do far better justice to the cause of armed struggle so many died for.

Motivated, probably touched too, by the stories I wrote in The Manica Post last year, about Cde Tendai Pfepferere, ZBC did not read and sulk.

They took up the idea of doing something. This year its relevant crew made an appointment with me to put up a documentary recording the sentiments surrounding Cde Tendai Pfepferere’s Christlike bravery to die so that others could live.

Of course all sons and daughters of Zimbabwe who chose to take up arms and fight against the superior military might of Ian Smith and his British masters were anchored on the same ideal- readiness to die so that others would be free. But Pfepferere did the same in a completely unique way demonstrating the depth of military discipline and level of sacrifice expected of a true freedom fighter and well trained cadre. He demonstrated how a hero could not only be measured by what he or she did, but also by what he-she did not do. Indeed while many may be veterans, not all are heroes.

This year I would like to remind Zimbabweans that the war of liberation was not a kitchen party. People died for us but not so that we could be stupid and irresponsible. The freedom they bought us with their blood and lives did not come free.

We cannot even in the best of democracy, allow idle youths to say, “You can go on and tie the country onto the tree you found it tied-we will free it again on our own.” Though anybody can understand youthful frustration and anxiety about the crisis of jobs and opportunities, surely it is no excuse for irresponsible and foolish freedom of expression.

ZBC’s documentary on Cde Tendai Pfepferere draws sentiments from witnesses of his senseless murder in 1979, August 5.

Politicians, nationalists and military leaders were locked up in serious talks at Lancaster at the time, in an attempt to find an end to the bitter armed struggle and bring about one man one vote for the people of Zimbabwe to choose a government of their own. Meanwhile Smith’s running dogs were busy putting up daylight military witchcraft against all progressive forces anxiously waiting for the total liberation of the motherland.

ZBC must be congratulated for responding to this call to begin to think and do something and not just sing, dance, drink heavily and eat during these commemorations. They have done something.

They have put together a documentary recording part of the history of St Augustine’s. They have engaged war veterans, former students and teachers of Tsambe to rekindle a spirit of celebrating both unknown and unsung heroes in this documentary. For indeed it was not only those known and big by name that fought this war! Guerrilla warfare has the body of a human being and functions like one.

The head cannot claim to be the body because it needs the neck to carry it, while the neck needs the trunk to find support on and all of it needs legs for full support, balance and ability to move from point to point in search of life supporting essentials. And so are the eyes and nose and ears, all of the parts of the body, each has an important part it plays to make the body sound and functional, no matter how small it may seem in the eyes of other parts. I hope those who have the gift of listening can hear properly and clearly get what I am saying.

This war was not fought by one or two people, three or four. It was everybody who fought including those who gave birth to the children who took up arms.

They invested their children in the freedom of this country. Every single freedom fighter wielding a bazooka or AK 47 belonged to some parent somewhere, most of them very poor parents who looked up to their children for support in old age like all of us do. Our futures lie in the hands of those who came from our loins.

And how many of these parents lost their children? Tendai is one of the thousands who didn’t fulfil the expectations of his parents, though he did so in a special way not every parent would wish their own child to pay as a price even for freedom. So, even the parents of these children deserve equal and special honour and respect, if not more.

And as we write stories, report, comment and remark as journalists or analysts, perhaps even as ordinary Zimbabweans celebrating our freedom we need to broaden our scope of thought. Just a little bit of honest, responsible and critical thinking will do it.

We cannot force youths in schools to like our history. It does not happen anywhere. Heroes hand over tangible values of goodness to their own children to appreciate intrinsically through education and role modelling, not forcing down patriotism or nationalism down the throats of natives of a new social order, children who have new hopes and ideals.

Children must see the fruits and goodness of our struggle and own the pride and glory of those victories. Filling History books with stories of how brave we were and how good we are will not cook the rice we want. Forcing children to recite poems and sing songs about our war heroes or even to salute our flags will not create genuine patriots.

It will only create parrots whose patriotism and loyalty is on their beaks, not in an understanding deeply set in their minds and hearts.

A lot happened in the schools. This is where recruitment of young freedom fighters was highest anyway. If they understood there was need to join the liberation struggle and left books in their desks and libraries to take up arms, why would they refuse to own their own history informed by their own struggle? They are stills students in schools, aren’t they? If they are brave, or is it stupid enough to say, “ You can go tie the country again where you freed it from, blab bla bla, there is something grossly wrong with these children or with all of us.

If we continue on the path of repeating war poems and songs and showing them same old television documentaries about the same heroes and heroines, well, that’s fine. But soon these children will suffer from boredom and fatigue caused by seeing and doing and hearing the same old songs and stories over and over again.

There is need to innovate politics of commemorations. Children are instinctively creative and artistically gifted. Allow them to create new songs and poems.

Don’t tell them what to write or how to express themselves and how you want them to remember their grandfathers and mothers who fought for this country. If you do you take away the ownership of those celebrations from them.

Soon they will get tired of our ideas of freedom and how to express it. Allow them to express freedom in the way they understand it, to express their hope, wishes and aspirations and their thankfulness of all who died and suffered for their freedom.

Correct them if they are ignorant or uninformed. We cannot go very far if we pay youngsters to compose and sing songs about us instead of encourage them to sing about themselves in the delight of all the war of liberation fought.

They want to see themselves in this new dispensation-not see us in the background of our own achievements.

The day we will see our children in the schools, writing and acting plays written by them for themselves celebrating their grandmothers and fathers whose land was colonized and for this they chose to die, we will know now our the legacy of a guerrilla is forever. If we continue to take young children by force and arm-twist them to write and recite poems and sing songs that praise us and not their pride to be grandsons and daughters of heroes and heroines of the liberation war, we are unwittingly numbering the days of our recognition and honour.

Children want to remember heroes but by being involved, not being used. They want to see achievements and results of their grandfathers’ and mothers’ sacrifices, not hear stories and songs of trumpeters sounding their own trumpets.

“ Ndiri nyama yenyama yegamba. I am flesh of a hero’s flesh! That’s what children want to say. Inini pachangu am proud to belong to the line of heroes. That’s what they want to say and feel-being part of a great history, not simply dancers to the music of accomplishment, not dancers to the music of war-valour and victory.

It is my sincere hope and belief that the ZBC documentary probably to be broadcast on television Heroes’ series on 18 April 2016 will do two things; one, to conscientise all Zimbabwean students, especially those at Tsambe, that schools played a vital role in the building up of a guerrilla army to fight for freedom, a lot happened in and around these schools, and young men and women spent and lost their prime time fighting or dying for the motherland; two, may this understanding enhanced by this documentary be a platform on which a feature film re-enacting the story of Tendai Pfepferere’s cold murder may be immortalised.

May this heroes’ holiday not be filled with empty sloganeering, singing and dancing, drinking heavily and gluttonous eating of bulls and cows, but be accompanied by a little thinking and common sense.

Some people died so that we live. Not forgetting the greatest hero was Jesus. He died not only so that we live but live eternally and in everlasting peace and love. GOD BLESS ZIMBABWE!