THE liberation struggle was bitter and brutal.
Did we have an option?
To fight or not to fight!
We did not, there was no option.
The goals of the struggle, above all, were to reclaim our stolen land, desire for self-governance and recovery of our identity as a people.
These goals lived with us, they were always spelt out during the 21 days of orientation at training camps and emphasised every time guerillas engaged the masses.
Up to today, we place great importance on our land.
It is the basis of our existence.
Everything else follows from what we get and do on the land.
The man in the straw-hat is right, so is Cde Chinos (Joseph Chinotimba). Yes, ‘we died for this country’.
The man in the straw-hat has been viewed as a ruffian, an invader, a squatter.
But he represents men and women, boys and girls who were clear about what we sought to achieve; who were relentless in pursuit of that goal until it was achieved.
We did not go into the liberation struggle half-heartedly, as an afterthought.
We went into it mind and spirit together, we engaged the enemy head on.
Persistence in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges defined that generation which ensured we achieved independence.
A generation which followed a vision until it came to fruition, a group that was not deterred.
We make no apologies for taking back our land, implementing policies to uplift indigenes, especially as we strive towards achieving food security.
Food security matters, some of us have never forgotten the pangs of hunger in the camps during the liberation struggle.
Now that we self-govern, there is need for self-sufficiency.
A nation cannot realise its full potential if it is not food-secure.
And to realise the goals of the war of liberation, we need a vibrant youth in control of its destiny.
Our youths must look back at the ethics and values that guided the liberation war as espoused in the ‘eight points of attention’.
Our youths must exhibit the work ethic and spirit of sacrifice that was found in the fighters.
We should defend these ideals, otherwise a whole generation died in vain.
Work on the land and defend it with your sweat; and if the need arises, with your blood.
We will always commemorate our heroes and heroines.
As Africans, in our tradition, the dead continue to live within the living.
The living speak on behalf of the dead in many ways.
By extolling dreams and wishes of our departed, the living communicate on their behalf.
There is a communion with the departed that we are always reminded when we sing the lines ropa rangu muchariona pasi pemureza weZimbabwe/igazi lami lizalibona ngapansi kweflag yeZimbabwe.
When we utter the words ‘We died for this country’, we express a message from fallen heroes.
We speak on behalf of thousands who never lived to tell their story.
Let us always and forever observe the basic tenets of hunhu/ubuntu that have shaped our discourse which the West has not stopped trying to hijack and redefine for its benefit.
Leaders, beyond doubt, must lead; must be exemplary and be the vanguard in the battle to protect and preserve our cultural values.