The Sunday News
Vusumuzi Dube, Senior Reporter
THE year was 1995. The venue, Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) grounds where security personnel were ushering us from one point to the next.
I waited as an eager squint-eyed Grade Four pupil, still wondering what I would do when my host entered the auditorium but beating my chest, as I was part of a selected few.
It was a Saturday and being one of the few pupils staying in the high-density suburbs but learning at what was then considered one of the elite schools in Bulawayo’s low-density suburbs — Kumalo Primary School — I woke up well before 5am, put on my best safari suit uniform, polished my brown toughees shoes, got the first Zupco bus to town and then boarded a Peugeot 504 “emergency” taxi to the United Bulawayo Hospitals before walking a couple of kilometres to school, so that I could be there by 7am.
As we made the bus trip to ZITF grounds nerves got the better of me, and I felt shivers going down my spine time and again while listening to teachers issuing out instructions on how best to conduct ourselves when we got to our destination. My inattentive colleagues were whispering about what an honour it was going to be to see the man in flesh.
As we disembarked from the bus, the teachers gave each of us a last-minute inspection and also gave us red scarfs to tie around our necks.
Entering one of the halls, through a huge door frame metal detector and ushered to our sitting area, it really dawned on me that I wasn’t dreaming but this was really happening — this was the day I would meet President Mugabe for the first time in my life.
This was the first of many 21st February Movement celebrations that I would attend, both as a primary school and high school pupil, to celebrate the life of a revered leader.
While it was usually quite a hassle for pupils to be selected to attend these celebrations, with most entering poetry recital competitions; for me it was not much of a challenge because out of 800 plus pupils, I was the only one born on 21 February. Yes, Robert Mugabe is not only my President but he is also my birthday buddy.
As the President stood to address the crowd, with us cheering and waving our small Zimbabwean flags, I could not help but consider how lucky I was to be in the same room as the man who devoted his life to my freedom and eagerly waited to hear what he had to say (and for a piece of the cake that was made in the Zimbabwean flag design).
What always comes to mind when I remember what the President said on this wondrous occasion was his emphasis that we should take our education seriously and not forget that as children, the future of the country lay with us.
My Grade Four teacher, Mrs Moyo, when I met her later in life reminded me of the words said by President Mugabe.
To many, the world over, 21 February might seem like any other day on the calendar, yet to Zimbabweans this is the day we celebrate the day our President was born, a day which has over the years been synonymous with the 21st February Movement.
To me this is the day that I was also born, the day when I first emerged from my mother’s womb and embarked on this journey called life. Many might dismiss this as a mere coincidence but I view this as a coincidence made by God himself.
As I reflect on my birthday and thank the Lord for guiding me through another year, I also think back on the life travelled by our great leader, President Mugabe, his trials and tribulations, victories and losses and most importantly, the inspiration he continues to give to many.
As we celebrate the day President Mugabe was born it is imperative to look at his history, which at times has been distorted by our Western detractors. It is imperative to trace the major steps he has taken over the years.
Born on 21 February 1924, yesterday President Mugabe turned 91. He was born at Kutama Mission in Zvimba area, Mashonaland West Province, about 80 kilometres west of Harare, to Gabriel and Mrs Bona Mugabe.
He got married in April 1961 to the late Sarah Francesca Hayfron (1932-1992), known to many as Cde Sally Mugabe. He then married Dr Grace Mugabe (nee Marufu) in August 1996. The couple has three children, one girl (Bona) and two boys (Robert Jr and Bellarmine).
Education wise, President Mugabe holds a Bachelor of Arts (Fort Hare), Bachelor of Arts Administration, Bachelor of Education (Unisa), Bachelor of Science in Economics, Bachelor of Law, Master of Law and Master of Science in Economics (University of London).
Politically, as the First Secretary of the ruling party Zanu-PF he has led the party to repeated electoral victories from March 1980, 1985, 1995, 2000 and 2005 parliamentary elections and in the 1990, 1996, 2002, 2008 presidential elections and the 2013 harmonised elections.
Policy wise, he has been in the forefront of numerous groundbreaking policies which include the 1980 policy of national reconciliation, the National Agrarian Reform and the most recent National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment policy to mention but a few.
What is essential to note is that all policies steered by President Mugabe were for the betterment of the nation. What makes the President stand out in the implementation of all these policies is that he boldly defended them despite, at times, stiff resistance from within and outside.
He has brazenly stood in front of international gatherings and unequivocally defended his gallant decisions and policies. A statement which immediately comes to mind was one which he made during the 60th anniversary of the Food and Agriculture Organisation that was held in Rome, Italy, in 2005.
The President had been invited to speak at the event in the wake of a statement by the then US Ambassador to the United Nations Agency for Food and Agriculture, Mr Tony Hall, who had criticised the United Nations food agency for inviting the President to the organisation’s 60th anniversary commemorations.
“Again we have a situation where some countries like the US and Britain have taken it upon themselves to decide and even interfere in our domestic affairs and want to bring about what they call regime change. Where is their morality? Where are their principles? Democracy bids that any political change in any country is the right of the people of that particular country and not the right of a foreign country.
“I thank those who have supported us; I thank those in Europe who continue to work with us; I thank all who are driven, whose conscience is driven by morality, by honesty, by good neighbourliness, by doing to others what you would want others to do unto you.
“We stand by principle, by honesty, by virtue. That’s my teaching, the Jesuits taught me to die for principle and I stand by that. I am Catholic like Chavez and I am a Catholic to the end with my principles which I hold as sacred. I serve my people and I served them when I went to prison. I shall serve them again,” the President was quoted as boldly declaring while addressing the delegates.
So once again, I prepare to attend another 21st February Movement event due to be held in the resort town of Victoria Falls, to celebrate birthdays with my birthday mate, President Mugabe.
This time around, I will also attend these with 110 other children from the country’s 10 provinces. For some of these children, they will be experiencing this extravaganza for the first time, they will be in a position that I was in 20 years ago.
For them, according to Zanu-PF Secretary for Administration in the Youth League, Cde Lewis Mathuthu, this will also be an experience of a lifetime as they will not only fly to the resort town but will also tour the majestic Falls, Hwange National Park and other places of interest in Matabeleland North.
The tour is being organised by the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority.
This year’s theme for the celebrations is “Celebrating the birth of Gushungo, Icon of Zimbabwe’s Revolution and Champion of Youth Empowerment.”
So as I wish the President and many other 21 February birthmates a happy birthday, I would once again end with the words of our revered leader in reflecting on the journey we have travelled as a nation: “We pride ourselves as being top, really, on the African ladder . . . We feel that we have actually been advancing rather than going backwards.”
