THE founding fathers of Zimbabwe knew that capitalism would never fulfill the goals of the liberation struggle, which were primarily to bring justice and equity to the broad masses of Zimbabwe.
Capitalism, by its very nature, serves the interests of the few, while the labouring mass of workers barely survive.
The workers produce for the capitalist every day.
What the worker is allocated by the capitalist is an insignificant percentage of the total wealth created by the workers.
Sometimes what the producers get a month is less than the master’s daily lunch allowance.
This is what capitalism does, this is the capitalist ethos.
Thus the leaders of the struggle knew they could never fulfill the aspirations of the people of Zimbabwe through capitalism.
‘Tinoda Zimbabwe neupfumi hwayo hwose’, a refrain from the Chimurenga song, ‘Nyika yedu yeZimbabwe’ underlined the cause of the struggle.
Capitalism can never deliver to our people nyika yavo neupfumi hwayo hwose.
That is why it was such a battle to get our land back and for this, the former slave masters and their relatives imposed sanctions on us and still, that is why they groom traitor-after-traitor to unseat the current leadership of Zimbabwe so that through their own puppets, they can restore the wealth of the Nation to the former bandit rulers and their kith-and-kin and permanently condemn the people of Zimbabwe to abject poverty under slave labour.
It is a permanent war to repossess what God gave the children of Zimbabwe and make it theirs.
The founding fathers of Zimbabwe were well aware that this could never be easy because wealth was the reason the British robbed us of our country and therefore full independence would mean repossessing the wealth, nothing less.
They did not rob us of our country to fly the Union Jack, they flew the Union Jack to lay claim to the land and wealth they had seized through the barrel of the gun.
A fundamental strategy was the building of the ethos that was consonant with their goals.
During the liberation struggle, this was fashioned through the commissariat and through the schools which were built for those who joined the struggle, but were too young to fight.
Through these two vehicles, everyone in the struggle was of one mind and one heart, each one became a comrade, which means: ‘Shamwari yeropa’ (the one with whom I am united in an eternal bond to die to free our people).
With this, the struggle could not fail and it did not fail.
This is what won the liberation war, not the guns.
The guns were mere instruments to accomplish what one was irrevocably committed to achieve, for which one was prepared to pay the ultimate price.
And therefore to build a Zimbabwe which would deliver to the masses of Zimbabwe, nyika yavo neupfumi hwayo hwose, what was needed was to build a mindset, an ethos which celebrates that: “Koga koga pasi rose kwakashingiswa kuti kune kwavo uye kune zvako” and therefore:
“Zimbabwe is our Country
It is our country
Zimbabwe is a good country
Our country is good
Our country is rich
Zimbabwe is a rich country
It is beautiful and rich
Our country is Zimbabwe.”
Thus to culture a people who own and appreciate ‘Zimbabwe neupfumi hwayo hwose’ as theirs, who understand the depth of their unmitigated ownership of their land; that:
“Nyika yedu yeZimbabwe ndimo matakazvarirwa
We live in our country, Zimbabwe
Father lives in Zimbabwe
He lives in his country, Zimbabwe
Mother lives in Zimbabwe
She lives in her country, Zimbabwe
My sister lives in her country, Zimbabwe
My brother lives in his country, Zimbabwe.”
To raise a people who understand the political economy of their land; that
“Zimbabwe is rich
In Zimbabwe we have many people
The people work hard
The people make the country rich
The country is rich because the people work hard
But we are poor
We are poor because the settlers steal our riches
They are rich because they steal
They are bad because they steal
After independence the people of Zimbabwe will be rich because they will work hard
Today the people of Zimbabwe work hard but they are poor
They are poor because the settlers steal the riches of Zimbabwe.”
And so the political economy of capitalism was laid bare, the children in the struggle learned and understood the political economy that necessitated the war of liberation, cruel and harsh as the war was.
For these very grave reasons, it was clear capitalism could not serve independent Zimbabwe.
Therefore, it was not an accident that the founding fathers of Zimbabwe chose education with production for independent Zimbabwe.
In education with production, there is no separation of theory from practice and production.
One learns how to use knowledge to produce what they need to live.
They also learn entrepreneurial skills; how to start, manage and run their own businesses.
This is what busts the political economy of capitalism.
A child who knows that Zimbabwe is his/her country, that it is rich and the riches belong to them and that it is his/her labour which produces riches, is capable of setting up his/her own business, run and manage it, is the anti-thesis of capitalism.
Such a child can never be the slave of the capitalist.
He/she will always hold his/ her head high as an heir of Zimbabwe, who has everything he/she needs to make it in life.
This is what was taught in schools in the liberation struggle, it was practised there and it succeeded, it was tried here at home after independence in eight ZIMFEP schools with pupils who had been in ZANU and ZAPU schools and it succeeded.
Education with production cultivates the correct ethos that: What your country is endowed with you have and you hold through ownership, you are in charge of production, you own what you produce, you decide how the product of your labour is distributed, that is what it means to be an heir.
Such is what you truly can be proud of and what it means ‘kuva neZimbabwe neupfumi hwayo hwose’.