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Colonial names disheartening

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IT is now 34 years since our country attained independence, but the sad thing is we still have a long way to go in terms of getting rid of colonial names and Rhodesia remnants.
Our schools, streets, buildings and so forth are still named after those robbers who travelled all the way from Britain to Zimbabwe to suppress us.
I have said it over and over again that there is no way vasinamabvi would travel for thousands of kilometres, crossing dangerous rivers and mountains just to save us by spreading Christianity and in the process civilising us.
It’s absurd actually and anyone who thinks we would not be where we are right now without the whiteman, then that person needs some serious decolonisation of the mind.
Such kinds of people are dangerous elements in society.
They are the same people who do not appreciate the fact that we cannot continue to diligently look after Cecil John Rhodes grave at the Matopos while shunning King Mzilikazi’s.
They are the very same people who do not appreciate that we have every right to change David Livingstone Primary School to Bernard Chidzero Primary School.
Such people are quick to say by doing this we will be distorting history, but the question is whose history?
Rhodesians have distorted our history and numerous books are there to prove it, so we might as well distort theirs by telling our true side of the story as Zimbabweans.
And this we can start by getting rid of colonial names, particularly renaming our schools.
We have Allan Wilson, Queen Elizabeth, Jameson, Churchill, Cecil John Rhodes, Hartman House, Moffat, Prince Edward and so forth.
All these schools must be renamed and given the names of our own heroes and heroines because how long must we continue to honour names of former British colonisers who placed the country under the yoke of oppression when we have great names of our own heroes who sacrificed their lives to free the country?
Why are we promoting the continued existence and recognition of people who oppressed us, while names of our great heroes are fading away?
We are doing a disservice to our children.
In fact our children learning at these institutions must be told the truth about these colonialists who decided to tarnish our land with their history.
For example, it wouldn’t be surprising if students from Allan Wilson who proudly call themselves ‘Men of Men’ do not know that they are every day celebrating a wrong and dead legacy.
They probably do not know that the real ‘Men of Men’ in that era were not the Allan Wilson patrol, but King Lobengula’s soldiers who wiped out the Allan Wilson Patrol at the Battle of Shangani on December 4 1893.
Students at David Livingstone are probably ignorant of the fact that their ‘hero’ is not the one who discovered Victoria Falls as is widely purported in most literature.
To tell them it’s a lie, the BaTonga already knew of Mosi oa Tunya, they would probably dismiss this as cheap propaganda.
But then this is the tragedy we currently have in the country.
And we can make things right by beginning now to change these colonial names and getting rid of Rhodesian remnants in our country.
We must not apologise for doing this.

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