WHEN we won our war of liberation and declared independence on April 18 1980, there was no possibility that the name Rhodesia would remain.
It had to change to that deriving from the heart of our ancient civilisation, an ancient achievement of our ancestors, ‘Zimbabwe’.
It had been decided long before 1980 what the name of our country would be.
During the years of the struggle, already ZANU denoted the Zimbabwe African National Union; ZANLA, the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army, ZAPU, the Zimbabwe African People’s Union with ZIPRA being Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army.
In sharp contrast to this, it has not seemed normal that names of schools, streets and other institutions celebrating the British armed robbery of our land should change for the same reason the name of our country changed from Rhodesia to Zimbabwe at midnight on April 18 1980.
Recently, Rhodes Estate Preparatory School in Matobo District changed its name to Matopo Junior School in honour of President Robert Mugabe’s 93rd birthday.
But we still have a sea of Rhodesian names all over the place. What shall we say for ourselves?
We still have Admiral Tait, Selbourne Routledge, Alfred Beit, Prince Edward, King George VI, David Livingstone, Queen Elizabeth and Jameson, the list is endless.
With us and our children from the struggle, it was a foregone conclusion that we would not countenance such.
When we came from the struggle, we gave names reflecting who we are and what we are about to the schools our children from the struggle built with their own hands.
In Bromely near Marondera, we built Rusunguko Secondary School, near Kwekwe we built Nkululeko Primary and Secondary schools, in Manicaland, Nyazura, we have Mavhudzi Secondary School (after one of the schools in the struggle), in Matableland South, West Nicholson, we have J.Z. Moyo Secondary School, after Jason Ziyapapa Moyo, our national hero, in Nyamandlovhu, George Silundika Primary and Secondary schools, in Shamva we had Chindunduma Primary and Secondary schools while in Chegutu is the Mupfure Self-Help College.
The ideological consciousness we cultivated during the liberation struggle remained very much alive and was put into practice without any equivocation, without any hesitation, in the same way it was never a possibility that the name of our country would remain that of Rhodes.
To us and our children, it was obvious that Rhodes’ names, the names of those we fought and defeated, the names of those who murdered our forefathers because of greed and lust for what was ours, those who massacred our comrades in Mozambique, Zambia and here at home, could never be the ones after whom we name our institutions.
So for us and our children, things are very clear, the way it was clear that our land which we wrested from the British armed robbers at the cost of thousands of lives could never remain Rhodes’ namesake.
But why does it seem this is not everyone’s perception, even 37 years after our victory against the British armed robbers?
Our victory meant the British could no longer lay claim to anything they once stole from us; it is now Zimbabwe, the land of Zimbabweans, no longer Rhodesia, the land stolen by the British at gunpoint.
But here we are; the ghosts of the British we defeated still walk our streets at our invitation, still sit in our classes at our invitation, still reside in our institutions at our invitation.
Instead of exorcising them, we beg them to stay. Each time we call these names, we are ratifying their presence among us, telling them it is OK to feel at home.
Isu nevana vedu vatakabva navo kuhondo takati hatizvidi; History will not absolve us.
But then what irks the mind is, who really wants these British names, the names of the armed robbers who enslaved us and brutalised us for 90 years?
To this day, the British do not want us ever to be at peace. They still seek every means to rob us of Zimbabwe again, they would do it militarily if they could.
So who really wants these British names?
Is it the mothers and grandmothers who cooked for the freedom fighters during the liberation struggle?
Who wants the names of these armed robbers?
Ndivo here ivava vabereki vanoda kuti ukungudzi hwevarungu, hwemhondi dzoku Britain hwupembedzwe munyika muno. Ivava here vakaviga comrade akapfurwa mu ‘battle’ riya akafa, ivava here vakachengeta comrade akakuvadzwa mubako vakamupepa kusvika apora, vakafirwa nevana kuhondo, ivava here vane hama neshamwari dzakafa muhondo.
Is it the Government of Zimbabwe which has instructed its various ministries to leave the British names untouched?
Who is it then? Is it the wish of the majority of Zimbabweans that the legacy of oppression and exploitation should remain protected beneath the Zimbabwe flag?
It irks the mind; some names have changed, others have not?
Andrew Fleming changed to Parirenyatwa which also has the Mbuya Nehanda Maternity wing; was it the overzealousness of Cde Ushehwokunze?
The British armed robbers are smiling, they feel good so much inside; “Ah these Africans, they say one thing with their mouths and with their hearts another?”.
They wonder at us.
In one of her shows, Mai Chisamba said that it is amazing that we want to be associated with whiteness so much, and yet you will never find any white person wanting to be called Mai Chisamba — she had a point.
Will history absolve us that after so many suffered and died at the hands of the British armed robbers we still honour their murderers in our streets, buildings, schools and other institutions?
When you suffer and die for something noble, it must be honoured; if it is not honoured, there is a problem.