COMMENT: Let’s savour our independence

ON Thursday, Zimbabwe will clock 44 years of independence from the brutal, oppressive and racist colonial rule, a development that set the country on a path of self-determination and that calls for massive celebrations as a nation. 

Zimbabwe as a nation was born at midnight on 18 April 1980 when the country’s flag was raised soon after the lowering of the colonial Union Jack where there was almost a delirium among the 40 000 plus people that had made it to Rufaro Stadium in Harare then Salisbury, to see their long-held dream of dismantling colonialism come into fruition. 

The raising of our flag symbolised the cutting-off and fall of colonial rule in the process marking the birth of a new nation, itself a product of a protracted armed struggle during which saw hundreds of brave sons and daughters of this country losing their lives in their determined fight to dismantle the racist government of Ian Smith. 

With all roads on Thursday leading to Murambida Growth Point in Buhera District, Manicaland Province where the national independence celebrations to mark 44 years of self-rule will be held it is time for Zimbabweans to savour the moment. 

It should be noted that ever since President Mnangagwa took over as the country’s leader, he has made it a point that the holding of national events such as the Independence Day celebrations are rotated among the country’s 10 provinces in line with his mantra of leaving no one and no place behind. 

Already Bulawayo and Mashonaland Central provinces have benefited from the devolved national independence celebrations. That is a huge departure from the days of the First Republic, which confined all such events to Harare, the capital. With all things seemingly done from Harare, the capital then earned the moniker, Bambazonke. 

With the nation eagerly waiting for Thursday to mark 44 years of our freedom, we believe it is time for the citizens of this country to sit down and reflect on this milestone achievement. The nation should also pay tribute to the living and fallen heroes who sacrificed a lot including their lives in our journey to attain self-rule. 

We have every reason to rejoice as during the colonial rule, blacks lived in a colonial realm that denied them opportunities such as voting, and acquiring certain qualifications, barred them from walking on certain pavements and subjected the majority population to sub-humans as whites, including their children, referred to the black people in derogatory terms such as kaffirs and pikininis. The blacks were humiliated and their dignity undermined, which is no longer the case now in an independent Zimbabwe. 

The black majority Government especially the Second Republic has come up with massive economic emancipation programmes, putting the owners of this country in charge of the means of production. Several blacks have seen doors opened for them to venture into different sectors of the economy, some being able to start businesses from scratch. The Government has spearheaded many people-driven economic empowerment policies such as the land reform programme, which resulted in the emergence of prominent black businesspeople and farmers. Many blacks have also taken up strategic leadership positions including women who were previously marginalised during the colonial era. 

Such developments are consistent with the words of a certain scholar who described the independence of any nation as a golden bridge which is the gateway to a just and prosperous society. 

As a nation, we should also bear in mind that it is events such as independence celebrations that besides celebrating self-rule, the day also provide us with an excellent opportunity for the creation of national identity and a platform for the discursive context of which visions of a nation and accomplishments are enunciated.