PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa is on record for saying let us continue our unity and commitment to progress and that, together, we will build a resilient Zimbabwe, honouring those who came before us.
Before the country held elections on August 23, ZANU PF had campaign rallies in all the country’s 10 provinces and also took time to honour our departed legends of the liberation struggle through a series of musical galas.
They were held in honour of Comrades Ndabaningi Sithole, Joshua Nkomo, James Chikerema, Simon Muzenda, Joseph Msika, John Landa Nkomo, Tichafa Parirenyatwa and Leopold Takawira.
In that regard, it is important to note that the ZANU PF musical galas of 2023 were a national cultural revival which touched all corners of the country.
Everyone went away with something from the protracted music festival.
For the families of the heroes being celebrated, it was a carthasis, an honour, an act of rehabilitation.
It was a closure, very much like a nyaradzo or bringing the spirit of the hero back to his home and his province.
Collectively and nationally, it was rehabilitation of heroes hitherto unsung.
For many young people, it was pure entertainment, while for the artistes, it was an invaluable platform to market themselves.
At another level, it was an act of cultural nationalism when a nation deliberately supported its raw talent while refining the established artistes.
For others, it was polytainment with its multiple points of entertainment; different age groups and different genres coming together in an explosive act that kept bumper crowds on their feet all night.
The music was shared by those live on the ground while it was also beamed across the nation on national television.
It was a medley of rhythms that weaved in and out of each other in complex symmetries that blew themselves to an explosive climax and resonated with well rehearsed choreographic skills. It was a season of sonic creative force that brought together raw, unpolished artistes to mix and mingle with experienced guitarists and pick up kernels of wisdom from the sages in the trade.
It was a remarkable logistical triumph in events management as the show set-up, the stage, the rig, the sound, brought the show to the nation’s living rooms week in, week out for eight consecutive weeks that were only interrupted by the Heroes Holiday.
It was the series of overnight concerts which, when stringed together, coalesced into one protracted music festival.
It was an act of writing history or more correctly, an act of singing and dancing history.
With Chief Director Strategic Communications in the Office of the President and Cabinet Dr Major (Rtd) Anywhere Mutambudzi at the helm, the organisers of this festival pulled off a remarkable feat, bringing the nation’s musicians to the peoples’ living rooms across the country and beyond.
There was remarkable team building in the process.
Television producers, radio presenters, organisers, technical staff, technical advisors – everyone – forged new relationships which will blossom over the years.
By the time all participants got on to the third or fourth gala, everyone knew his/her station and swung into action like a well-oiled machine that it finally became.
There is an endless string of valuable take-ways from these galas and it would take a whole book to unravel the numerous benefits of this project.
It was a wonderful experience which should be taken into the future as we build this nation brick-by-brick and stone-upon-stone, while also remembering to honour those who came before us.
