I WRITE this note under a dark cloud, for we have lost another gallant son of the soil.
Brigadier-General James Jotham Murozvi, ‘Cde James Tichatonga’, has departed to join the constellation of our country’s finest.
Soon after the Easter Holidays, we celebrate that all-important day, our Independence Day, and Brig-Gen Murozvi was among those men and women who gave up their all to liberate the country from colonial bondage.
The most important thing is what he symbolised and stood for; valour, honour and love for the motherland.
The passing on of Brig-Gen Murozvi is a sad loss which reminds us of the enormous task we have before us.
Again I come back to the issue of the need to narrate and write, profusely, the histories, escapades and achievements of our heroes.
Should we wait for the death of our heroes and heroines to get snippets of their lives and contribution to nation building?
Indeed, not writing our own history amounts to treason for we are leaving ourselves at the mercy of foreign historians who have no qualms about distorting and misrepresenting our past.
I will repeat that the act of being silent about ourselves is an act of giving space to non-Zimbabweans to narrate the Zimbabwean story.
It creates empty spaces that have allowed political mischief-makers to plot with foreigners to bring down our nation, to derail our efforts at every turn.
Next week we celebrate our Independence Day and it is men like Brig-Gen Murozvi and others who have enabled us to go about our business unfettered.
Celebrating the day is celebrating being Zimbabwean; we will commemorate the day, but celebrate it beyond April 18; every day we celebrate our Independence.
Our independence is made up of chronicles written in blood and these are invaluable.
We say fare thee well comrade, we will not forget you, your exploits and contribution!
The genesis of our nation was painful and some of us carry scars deep in our souls.
Our fallen heroes are the fuel that has kept us going and will continue to inspire us as we forge ahead.
The peace and tranquility we enjoy today, which some of us take for granted, are a result of many who lie in various parts of the country, in various shrines in Zambia and Mozambique, some uninterred.
During the holidays, let us take time to reflect.
Let us ask ourselves what we can contribute towards building our nation into a country that those who lie in unmarked graves, that those who move around with unhealed wounds saw and were ready to lose their lives for.
Let us be vigilant and identify those who act against our unity and independence.
Our success, like any other nation, lies in working together, as a unified force with a single objective of Zimbabwe’s prosperity.
An objective that drove and inspired those who are not with us today to enjoy the fruits of independence.
We are a people with a common past, a past with a painful script written in blood.
Let us continue to celebrate being Zimbabwean, as a united people who will not allow usurpers to have their way with us.
Also, let us reflect on the stories in this edition; maybe as Africans we have lost the thread of our past and in the chase of Western faiths we have forgotten our heritage and our very own traditions.
And the price for forgetting has been so much confusion.