OURS is a nation founded on solid ground of hunhu/ubuntu.
Ours is a great nation whose foundation lies on the ideals of the liberation struggle.
Ours are a well-natured people.
Ours are a people who subscribe to the values, ideals and ideas of hunhu/ubuntu.
And our society is that tool that has made us the great people we are.
We are a people who adhere to the institutions of socialism.
We follow our culture.
We follow our traditions.
We follow the norms and values of dignity and humility.
We fear and respect God.
But and there is a big but.
There is now a disturbing cancer eating right into the core of our very being.
If not curbed, this cancer will wipe out our humanity.
It will destroy our values of hunhu/ubuntu.
It will destroy our society and all that it stands for.
We need to be on guard.
We need to reclaim our societal values before they are consumed by this cancer.
A few days ago, a video purportedly made by Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT) students made rounds.
In the dirty video was a gay couple involved in the ugly act.
Even though it turned out it was not made by Zimbabweans, the damage had been done.
I talked about a cancer that is eating into our society.
Our country and people are facing the menace of technology.
Its advancement has not made our quest for a well-knit society any better.
If anything, it has started to slowly tear society apart.
Our country today is paying the price of our inheritance of foreign media products.
Where anatete, anasekuru were imparters of knowledge, there is now the internet assuming that role with devastating consequences.
Communication has taken us to such platforms as whatsapp and facebook.
These are now mediums of communication and are as such expected to shape our children, wives, husbands, people and their future!
They have taken the role played by anatete and anasekuru.
They have taken the role played by our elders.
Today our liberation struggle is demeaned because of a simple message on whatsapp or facebook.
Hondo yacho yavakuonekwa sekupenga futi.
Today our leaders are belittled by so-called techno-savvy individuals at the click of a button.
Today society listens more to gossip on these platforms than our elders.
Today divorces caused by these media products are the order of the day.
Today tertiary institutions are the hub of dirty material.
Are we now a nation of sex tapes?
Are we now a nation of whatsapp and facebook?
Are we now a nation of rumour mongering and gossip?
The National School Pledge is attacked because some whatsapp or facebook activist does not support it.
Where do we go from here?
We need to have a serious review of our curriculum.
We need to have a look at the media products at our disposal and see if they are doing us any good.
We need to go back to where it all began.
We need to inculcate hunhu/ubuntu in our curriculum.
We need to have programmes that promote our culture and need to have churches that work hand-in-hand with schools to save our children from this evil.
Tertiary institutions must make it mandatory for children to be taught our culture, our values and everything that makes us a people.
It is not too late to save our people and society from this menace.
We must make good use of media products at our disposal.