WHAT makes us tick as an African people?
As we are in the throes of finalising the new education curriculum, anticipated to be launched next year, a critical area to be considered is the humanistic fulcrum of the curriculum; especially on whose tenets the curriculum is hinged.
While there has been a concerted drive to inculcate ubuntu/hunhu in various ways and forms within the new curriculum, how will it benefit society in Zimbabwe today or in the future?
In Africa, societies are functioning human communities. They are organised and evolved ethical structures with moral values, principles and rules that guide the social and moral behaviour of the general citizens that make up that community.
What distinguishes us as Zimbabwean African people?
Have we given comprehensive and exhaustive investigation and clarification of what African philosophy per se is?
In a country of numerous sub-clans, divided into provinces, diverse geo-physical regions, what are the beliefs and ideals of the terrigenous African society that have a bearing on ethical and moral conduct?
These questions make it incumbent on us today, to clearly articulate our philosophies through a grounded robust and extensive analysis and interpretation of who we are as a people, united through our hard-fought independence under the flag of liberation.
But what are morals?
Mõralis in Latin relates to morals or customs; ‘moral’ according to the Collins Dictionary means; concerned with or relating to human behaviours; adhering to conventionally accepted standards of conduct, based on a sense of right or wrong, according to one’s conscience.
The ethics of a society are embedded in the ideas and beliefs of what is morally right or wrong. It extends to the human value judgments of what is a good or bad character. In addition, it is rooted in the conceptions of amenable social relations and attitudes held by all members of the society.
The ideas and beliefs regarding the right moral conduct are articulated, analysed and interpreted through the moral philosophies of wise grandmothers and grandfathers of the society; often articulated in folklore, literature, music, dance, poetry and other mediums of African wisdom.
Furthermore, they are set in the structure of society and patterns of behaviour considered to develop social harmony, compassionate living, justice and equality; often passed on orally to new generations of indigenous people overtime.
This way the perpetuation and continuation of culture and philosophy is kept alive.
In Zimbabwe, our understanding of African philosophy and ethics should be as clear as African daylight and not shrouded in the mists of complicated and convoluted maxims of Western philosophical theory.
One well-known example of the pan-African socio-economic philosophical ideas emerging from the late 1950s to 1960s was the African socialist philosophy of ujamaa – togetherness, propounded in Tanzania and promoted by Julius Nyerere and other early liberators in other parts of south-east Africa.
These African philosophical socio-economic developments also had a notable impact on the anti-colonial movements, also supported by many non-African peoples around the world. In the early and mid-20th Century, anti-colonial movements had a tremendous effect on the development of a distinct African political philosophy that had resonance on both the African continent and the greater African Diasporas.
It was through the African philosophical concept of ujamaa, that many of our liberation cadres were harboured and trained in countries such as Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia. They all believed in, and supported, the common cause of liberating their neighbouring brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe; thereby demonstrating clearly the altruism of African ubunthu as a philosophy.
Even though Africa is vast and extremely diverse, geographically, environmentally, ethnically and culturally, there are shared moral ideals across the many varied ethnic groups within the continent. 
In most African cultures, particularly in Zimbabwean culture, ethics are centred on an individual’s character and the saying: He has no morals translates to he has no character – Munhu asina hunhu or munhu pasina.
For this reason, the notion of ubuntu, which is often being touted around today, should be understood for more than just an axiom. Umuntu ngu muntu ngabantu, should not be mere rhetoric to prove that one is au currant and au fait about pan-African philosophies; but should be formally adopted, encouraged, practised and preserved as a way of life which is essential for the survival and social progress of the people.
Everyday living for indigenous Africans is grounded in African philosophy and how we relate to the world; it is an all-embracing worldview which can be practically applied in all spheres of life, be it education, work or play.
Since the late 1960s and early 1980s, African scholars and contemporary African philosophers have been attempting to give continued reflective attention to African moral ideas. This scholarship has made some contribution to the understanding of African ethical thinking, language and African philosophy.
African philosophy is essentially a philosophy produced by African people, for African people; a philosophy that presents African worldviews and applies distinct African philosophical processes.
Morality is the point of departure for most African language systems.
Our indigenous languages give insight into the moral thinking or ideas of the society. The gravitas of inter-personal terms of protocol in African languages articulates the specificity of how social relationships are guided and grounded in the philosophy of ubuntu.