WHOEVER imagined that this year’s main Independence Day celebrations would be hosted in Mt Darwin, Mashonaland Central?
Many things are already happening on the ground in preparation for the big day.
The developments will undoubtably transform Mt Darwin and surrounding areas. Chibondo, on the other hand, still stands as a reminder to all and sundry that our independence was not simply handed to us.
There are tormented souls at Chibondo – souls that constantly remind us never to take our independence for granted. There will be an exhibition there which everyone cannot afford to miss.
Yes, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s decision to head to Mt Darwin for Independence Day celebrations is fundamental in many ways. We will elaborate in future instalments.
However, as we countdown to the big day, 43 years on, we remain resolute. We must take pride in the fact that, over the years, we have remained true to our identity and aspirations.
We have suffered but have not sold-out and not given up. Our heroes and heroines are proud because we have not let them down. The pressure, the onslaught and the attacks on us, from Uncle Sam and allies, have been relentless.
However, their efforts to break us have been futile. The battles we have fought in the last decades to safeguard our interests and sovereignty have rekindled the Zimbabwean fighting spirit that saw us take up the baton from the First Chimurenga and saw us prevail in the Second Chimurenga as well as the Third Chimurenga.
We are successfully building a Zimbabwe through hard work and resilience.
We must, therefore, not lose our bearings, but continue to maintain our sense of purpose and patriotism in our nation, especially among the youth.
We have made great strides in the effort to own our resources.
Yes, we might be struggling now, but indigenes are in control of the resources. Many miners, small-scale they might be, are indigenes. Gold output is on the increase and majority producers are Zimbabweans. We have indigenised our education system through revisiting our curriculum so that we truly become masters of our own destiny.
Colonial and post-colonial education alienated us from our cultures, economy and heritage.
The curriculum was designed in a way that continued to serve the interests of the colonial masters and all discourses placed the West at the centre; be they intellectual, cultural, social, political or economic.
It is a system that was designed in a manner that made our children, scholars and everyone see development only happening inside the Western framework.
We must continue on that path of re-thinking and re-writing our curriculum on our own terms so that it fully benefits us.
Our development and empowerment can never be complete if we forget to indigenise our intellectual space. As we celebrate 43 years of independence, let the song of development, more development, education and empowerment continue to ring loud in our ears.
The song must not die, but continue to echo in our ears for eternity. It must guide future generations. Indeed, just as we took the initiative to liberate oursselves, from the 1890s right up to 1980, let us continue with initiatives that will make us the light of Africa.
In the same spirit that we fought for our independence, let us fight for total economic emancipation to attain Vision 2030 of an upper-middle income economy.
That will also require all of us to be united because, ultimately, we are diverse but one. That is why this year’s celebrations will run under the theme: ‘Zim@43: Nyika Inovakwa Nevene Vayo/Ilizwe Lakhiwa Ngabanikazi Balo’.
It is the apt theme.