Preparing for 32 years
of Zimbabwe’s Independence.*
By Takura Zhangazha.^
As has been the practice since 1981 the Zimbabwean government
shall play the lead role in choreographing the meeting of our contemporary politics
with memories of our liberation struggle. This will be done on 18 April 2012, the country’s Independence Day. In so
doing leaders in government will seek to use the occasion of these
commemorations to demonstrate what they perceive to be their ‘democratic’ commitment
to the historically definitive values of our national liberation struggle. Some
more than others, but all the same, they will all insist on having played or intending
to play a role relevant to the purposes and values of our national independence.
It is however necessary to point out it is not the sole
prerogative of our national leaders to remember and commemorate our national independence.
Indeed they may lead official state functions to remember the same, but recognizing
the significance of our freedom from minority rule is the task of every
Zimbabwean. This recognition is not however a call to joining the political
party led messaging for propagandistic or electioneering purposes. Instead, we
should recognize the national significance of independence on the basis of the initial
fact that it was an historical and nation defining occurrence. This especially after
a drawn out and painful liberation war.
In the second instance, we must all celebrate our national independence
with the intention of insisting that ‘never again!’ shall we or our children
bear witness to such repression either by way of racism (of any kind), social
and economic injustice or the wanton killing of innocent civilians and
deprivation of human rights to all. This is regardless of whatever government
is in charge of the Zimbabwean state at any given time in the past, present or
the future.
Thirdly, we must recognize our national independence in order
to understand the historical and progressive democratic reasons why the
Zimbabwean state was established. While the political parties may give their own
politicized reasons, our collective understanding should be pre-disposed to
understanding that we raised our national flag in April 1980 with the explicit
intention of ensuring a democratic and better life for all Zimbabweans regardless
of race, colour or class. It is from such a premise that we must measure, even 32
years afterwards, to see if our country and its successive governments (though
dominated by one party) have adhered to
this key noble intention of our independence.
This would include taking into account the policies that have
been implemented since 1980. These would include the expansion of social
service provision by the state, the establishment of a justiciable bill of
rights (however flawed), the tragic conflict that was Gukurahundi, economic structural adjustment, the continually
repressive political environment as well as the continually disputed and
historically politicized land re-distribution and indigenization programmes.
Some would argue that the verdict is easy, meaning that
perhaps 32 years on, we are yet to realize the objectives of our national
independence and liberation struggle. That however would be to potentially fall
into the trap of continually politicizing our collective history just as some political
parties have consistently sought to do.
Many mistakes were made and continue to be made across
political lines since 1980 to present day. Indeed it is the liberation parties
that took and remain in power that are most culpable for real and perceived failures
that are associated with our post independence society. But it must now become
increasingly clear that the country should no longer be viewed as being the responsibility
of these movements alone. It belongs to all who live in it, and therefore we
all have a responsibility to ensure that it pursues the path of making
progressive and democratic history. It is no longer adequate to merely claim
political party membership as the reason
for seeking recognition as an active
citizen of the republic with claim to the legacy of the liberation struggle. This is particularly so for the younger
generations of adult Zimbabweans who may not have seen or participated either
in the liberation war or the independence celebrations at Rufaro stadium in
1980.
As a fourth and final point it must be emphasized that the
path that Zimbabwe must now pursue is one that while being conscious of our
history must not be imprisoned by it. In celebrating or commemorating 32 years
of our national independence, we must think more of the future than the past.
We must grasp that our existence as a country is based on what were essentially
struggles for the freedom of all and not the few. In so doing, we must carry
forward the burden of the mistakes made more honestly and with the clear
intentions of ensuring that these mistakes never occur again of our own volition.
This means that as we await 2012’s independence day commemorations we must be conscious of the
challenges that we face collectively and approach them with the necessary historical
and social consciousness that returns our country to a social democratic path.
*This article is a
prelude to Notes on 32 Years of Zimbabwe’s Independence: Essays on the
Future and our National Historical Consciousness
to be published electronically on 11 April 2012.
^Takura Zhangazha
writes here in his personal capacity. takura-zhangazha.blogspot.com
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