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Youth should know and defend the genuine gains of the liberation struggle
Youth Forum
April 17, 2012

The liberation struggle or fight against colonial and racial rule that was fought by our erstwhile liberators and the many that perished during that civil war in then Rhodesia, is an important chapter in the history of our country. That this liberation war was fought mostly by the young people goes without saying. What is and should be more important however, is what that struggle fought to achieve and more importantly how we as young people of today can be active in defending these gains and, in our lifetime contribute to the making of the Zimbabwe that so many died for.

Three fundamental points summarize the aspirations of the nationalist leaders as they led the black majority in the fight for political independence: the wide disparities in wealth distribution, largely favouring the white minority at the expense of the black majority; majority rule and the right to vote for leaders and a government of their choice (commonly referred to as 'one man (woman), one vote') and the redressing of the land question as many had been removed from their fertile lands and driven into reserves, keeps and other such barren areas.

When political independence came about in 1980 after a protracted armed struggle, it was greeted with enthusiasm and euphoria from the black majority. Expectedly, this majority was expectant that the ideals that had driven the war and what they sought to get out of the armed struggle would be fulfilled by the leaders they had entrusted with political power to drive a new Zimbabwe through the elections of 1980.

32 years after independence however, the ordinary black majority continues to face the same, if not worse challenges to what they did those many years ago before political independence. In essence, the yoke they carried under white oppression has been painted 'black' as they continue to suffer and wallow in poverty under a black administration. Ironically, the three fundamentals that drove and spurred many to fight white injustice and racialism remain unfulfilled and a pipe-dream for the majority, and a painful reminder that the struggle for a better Zimbabwe for all that live in it is still far from over and the dream far from realized.

In Zimbabwe today, there is glaring evidence of wide disparities in wealth distribution - a new black political elite has replaced the white minority in ownership of critical state and non-state resources. While 'one man (woman), one vote' has been realized, the majority are still not free to elect leaders and a government of their choice - there is evidence of election fraud in elections dating as far back as 1985, which has worsened over the years and finally culminated in the sham June 2008 election, the bloodiest in the electoral history of Zimbabwe.

While we have and continue to be told the contrary, the noble initiative of land redistribution has by-and-large benefitted this new black political elite, at the expense of the formerly landless peasants in the 'reserves and keeps' - prime land has been parcelled out along political patronage lines, with many of those holding some form of political power being multiple-farm owners when other ordinary civilians have nothing.

Just as a reminder, the war of liberation was not fought so that a few Zimbabweans (and non-Zimbabweans) can enjoy the fruits of the resource-endowed nation that is Zimbabwe. What Comrades Tongo, Zvogbo, Chitepo, Mugabe, Nkomo, Sithole, Dabengwa and Mujuru amongst others fought for was that each and every Zimbabwean, regardless of ethnicity, colour, tribe or other considerations is able to live peacefully, enjoy fundamental rights and freedoms and enjoy an equal opportunity to prosper and achieve self-actualization in a socially-justiciable manner. At the height of that protracted struggle, they all acknowledged and defended this line wherever they went, even in the British and other capitals they continued to grace through diplomatic efforts. Then, they were very clear that despite assertions to the contrary, suggesting that they were Marxist extremists, the nationalist leaders were able to present a formidable and morally justified reason for waging this armed struggle - their quest to rid Zimbabwe of the injustices of colonialism and ushering in of majority rule, a phrase that has commonly come to be replaced by democratic rule.

However, despite the insurmountable evidence that all these noble causes and fundamental ideals formed the basis of the liberation struggle, evidence on the ground today point to a scenario in which this noble African agenda has been driven off the rails by an insensitive sect of greedy politicians and plunderers who have usurped the power of the masses and vested it in a closely-knit political cabal. Some members of this murderous crew have forgotten that just 35 years ago they led the armed struggle on the backdrop of popular support for majority rule. They even had the support of the same British, American and other nations across the globe backing them in calling for majority rule, which the Rhodesians worked tirelessly to prevent, but albeit eventually surrendered through negotiations as the war heated up.

Despite the fact that such history is well recorded and documented, the new black ruling elite of Zimbabwe have over time managed to re-write history to suit their own parochial intentions. They have chosen to negate and plagiarize the rich history of our nation through telling it in their own concocted way so as to justify the various heinous crimes that they have and continue to perpetrate on the civilian masses. This they have managed to achieve largely by destroying or willingly neglecting to document the numerous physical evidence of our liberation struggle.

Today, it is very difficult for any young person in this country to know of the true history of our liberation struggle. The only few available places to learn about this history have been so politicized and abused out of any meaning that they have lost meaning to what we all know, through one means or the other, as the real reasons and chain of events behind our liberation struggle. The issue of our National Heroes Acre quickly springs to mind. Despite being a noble initiative in respect of entrenching the history of our liberation struggle, it has been hounded and degraded of any moral value by the manner in which this ruling black elite under the guise of Zanu PF have clandestinely determined through their Soviet-style 'politburo' who is buried there. This has been to the extent that known cheats, thieves and murderers such as Chenjerai Hunzvi lie buried at our national shrine. It is a real pity. This case of our national shrine is just but one case in point.

The history of apartheid South Africa and its subsequent post-apartheid era poses huge lessons for Zimbabwe as it struggles to meet the dreams and expectations of those who waged and supported liberation struggles. This is true not only for Zimbabwe, but for a whole range of African and non-African nations that have fought colonialism and white imperialism over the years, in pursuit of self-determination as indigenous people. While Zimbabwe and many other African nations attained their political independence well before South Africa, it is the manner in which South Africans have been able to build on their history in resolving the various injustices and inequalities of the past. And this has to a greater extend been achieved through the manner in which government particularly the ANC has managed to push for the documentation and preservation of the country's history, partly through the Truth and Reconciliation processes as well as building of physical structures to preserve the memory of their struggle against apartheid and why it was necessary to fight this struggle.

It is in this regard that Zimbabwe as a nation has failed dismally. Of the many lived realities, peoples, sites, documents, and other such paraphernalia that depicts and is relevant to our liberation struggle, very few are of any value today, especially to the younger generation who may have not been present to witness for themselves the uncensored truth of the liberation struggle or still, were too young to have known anything significant was happening in the country. Ask any young person what is 'Gonakudzingwa' or where it is (if it is still there) and this sad reality will dawn to you. What we have seen is the complete abdication of this very valuable history of our country, to serve the interests of our new black elite, who behave in every sense colonial as did the Rhodesians during that sad period of the liberation struggle and the times before it.

If you are going to speak to a lay person on the street about the lived realities of the many people who lived during the liberation struggle and how they understood the struggle and the reasons for waging it, you would be baffled at how the reality today does not resonate with the wishes and aspirations of the black majority that lived through and suffered under colonialism. What is further perplexing is the 'new ideals and values' that form the DNA of the new ruling black elite who today occupy the top echelons of power in Zimbabwe. It seems their first and foremost rule and idea is self-enrichment and aggrandizement at the expense of the Zimbabwean masses. Look at our minister Chombo and you will begin to understand this DNA of our new ruling black elite.

The important questions young men and women of today must ask ourselves are: Did the attaining of independence after a protracted armed struggle fought by the young people of that time more than three decades ago usher in the expected results? If not, (as is the obvious case here) then what are we going to do as the youths to ensure that our country attains true independence and defend the genuine gains of the struggle?

As young people, we need to ensure that the 'one wo/man one vote' principle is adhered to and the subsequent result of any election is respected. This entails fighting for peace in our country and encouraging each other to participate positively in all elections. Without fighting for and defending our votes, our situation is not much different from that in the 60s when our parents could not determine who leads our lovely Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia).

Wealth distribution has seen even worse skewedness after independence, with the majority of the young people owning or controlling no means of production while a few, because of their again skewed liberation war credentials, feel they should own everything and anything. It is our duty as young men and women to fight for the equal distribution of wealth, to make sure that we also have access to resources and these privileges can never be delivered to us on a silver platter, we must demand and fight for them until we also get a piece of the cake.

Whilst ZANU PF claims that land was redistributed, it is important to note that the re-allocation was fundamentally wrong with the political elite clandestinely getting all the fertile landmasses while the few peasants who benefited only got sandy and dry areas. The youths of today must demand an audit into the land redistribution exercise and demand to know what criteria was used to allocate certain fertile pieces of land to the subsequent beneficiaries and put in place measures to ensure that such malpractices are not repeated in future.

It becomes important to critically think of Frantz Fanon's words of wisdom: "Each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfill it or betray it." Do we know our mission and are we going to fulfill it or betray it, spelling doom for future generations?

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