via Zimbabwe, a jewel destroyed – DailyNews Live 13 July 2014
HARARE – At Independence in 1980, the then Tanzanian President, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere advised the new Zanu government that: “You have inherited the jewel of Africa, don’t destroy it.”
Indeed, Zimbabwe was the jewel of Africa but due to years of economic mismanagement and bad policies, our country has been reduced to being a laughing stock of the rest of the world.
All we are left with are policy makers and leaders, who concentrate more on rhetoric and name calling instead of spending their energies on development and improvement of lives for the poor majority.
And predictably, when MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai made the observation that life for blacks in minority-ruled and racist Rhodesia was way better economically than it is now in a free Zimbabwe, he was savaged.
The only reason that Tsvangirai is being savaged this violently by the usual culprits is because his observations cut too close to the truth.
But that does not mean that the racist regime should have stayed. NO. But people wanted an improvement to their well-being after independence.
Indeed, our independence in 1980 was supposed to mark the beginning of happier and more prosperous days in our nation than in Rhodesia where the brutal Smith regime trampled upon black’s rights.
Alas, those aspirations remain but a distant mirage.
And no matter how much this may rankle with our touchy political leaders, the incontrovertible truth is that our “freedom” has lost its meaning completely, which is causing many Zimbabweans to ask what it is, indeed, that those gallant sons and daughters of this proud nation died and sacrificed their lives for, as they battled against white minority rule.
And politicians who have presided over this mess do not care a hoot about the dire state of affairs as their own undeserved, super-luxurious lifestyles are sustained by the misery of the majority.
Just consider the following revealing titbits to get a clearer picture of both the scale of incompetence and the disdain with which our self-serving rulers hold fellow Zimbabweans.
When President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF assumed power in 1980, Zimbabwe was, staggeringly, ahead of South Africa on most socio-economic indicators, and we had a higher GDP per capita than China!
Not only that, our now buried currency, inherited from sanctions-ravaged Rhodesia — and we mean real, not slap-on-the-wrist targeted sanctions — was worth twice the value of the much vaunted US dollar!
Today, our GDP per capita is one of the lowest in the world, with at least 90 percent of our people unemployed and living in abject poverty.
The Zimbabwe dollar, embarrassingly, is dead.
Surely, meaningful independence must entail the right to vote, act, speak, or think as one wants.
It, crucially, must also include freedom from economic misery and dependency, as is now widespread in a free Zimbabwe, as well as freedom from the insanity of the Gukurahundis and Murambatsvinas of a “free” Zimbabwe!
COMMENTS
“The final countdown before the launching of the new State of Zimbabwe has now begun. Only a few hours from now, Zimbabwe will have become a free, independent and sovereign state, free to choose its own flight path and chart its own course to its chosen destiny. Its people have made a democratic choice of those who as their legitimate Government, they wish to govern them and take policy decisions as to their future.
“This, indeed, is the meaning of the mandate my party secured through a free and fair election, conducted in the full glare of the world’s spotlight. While my Government welcomes the mandate it has been freely given and is determined to honour it to the letter, it also accepts that the fulfillment of the tasks imposed by the mandate are only possible with the confidence, goodwill and co-operation of all of you, reinforced by the forthcoming support and encouragement of all our friends, allies, and well wishers in the international community.
“The march to our national independence has been a long, arduous and hazardous one. On this march, countless lives have been lost and many sacrifices made. Death and suffering have been the prize we have been called upon to pay for the final priceless reward of freedom and national independence. May I thank all of you who have had to suffer and sacrifice for the reward we are now getting.
“Tomorrow we shall be celebrating the historic event, which our people have striven for nearly a century to achieve. Our people, young and old, men and women, black and white, living and dead, are, on this occasion, being brought together in a new form of national unity that makes them all Zimbabweans. Independence will bestow on us a new personality, a new sovereignty, a new future and perspective, and indeed a new history and a new past. Tomorrow we are being born again; born again not as individuals but collectively as a people, nay, as a viable nation of Zimbabweans.
“Tomorrow is thus our birthday, the birth of a great Zimbabwe, and the birth of its nation. Tomorrow we shall cease to be men and women of the past and become men and women of the future. It’s tomorrow then, not yesterday, which bears our destiny. As we become a new people we are called to be constructive, progressive and forever forward looking, for we cannot afford to be men of yesterday, backward-looking, retrogressive and destructive. Our new nation requires of every one of us to be a new man, with a new mind, a new heart and a new spirit. Our new mind must have a new vision and our new hearts a new love that spurns hate, and a new spirit that must unite and not divide.
“This to me is the human essence that must form the core of our political change and national independence. Henceforth, you and I must strive to adapt ourselves, intellectually and spiritually to the reality of our political change and relate to each other as brothers bound one to another by a bond of national comradeship. If yesterday I fought as an enemy, today you have become a friend and ally with the same national interest, loyalty, rights and duties as myself. If yesterday you hated me, today you cannot avoid the love that binds you to me and me to you. Is it not folly, therefore, that in these circumstances anybody should seek to revive the wounds and grievances of the past? The wrongs of the past must now stand forgiven and forgotten. If ever we look to the past, let us do so for the lesson the past has taught us, namely that oppression and racism are inequities that must never again find scope in our political and social system. It could never be a correct justification that because whites oppressed us yesterday when they had power, the blacks must oppress them today because they have power.
“An evil remains an evil whether practiced by white against black or by black against white. Our majority rule could easily turn into inhuman rule if we oppressed, persecuted or harassed those who do not look or think like the majority of us. Democracy is never mob-rule. It is and should remain disciplined rule requiring compliance with the law and social rules. Our independence must thus not be construed as an instrument vesting individuals or groups with the right to harass and intimidate others into acting against their will. It is not the right to negate the freedom of others to think and act, as they desire.
“I, therefore, wish to appeal to all of you to respect each other and act in promotion of national unity rather than negation of that unity. On Independence Day, our integrated security forces will, in spite of their having only recently fought each other, be marching in step together to herald the new era of national unity and togetherness.
“Let this be an example of us all to follow. Indeed, let this enjoin the whole of our nation to march in perfect unison from year to year and decade to decade towards its destiny. We have abundant mineral, agricultural and human resources to exploit and develop for which we need perfect peace. Given such peace, our endeavours to transform our society and raise our standard of living are bound to succeed. The mineral resources lying beneath the surface of our country have hardly been scratched, nor have our agricultural and industrial resources yet fully harnessed. Now that we have peace, we must go fully out to exploit them. We already have a sophisticated infrastructure. Our expertise is bound to increase as more and more educational and technical institutions are established to transform our skilled manpower. The whole world is looking on us this day.
“Indeed, many countries in the international community are amazed at how we have so quickly and unexpectedly moved from war to peace. We have certainly won the goodwill of many countries and can confidently expect to benefit from the economic and technical aid they are able and willing to provide for us. May I assure you that my Government is determined to bring about meaningful change to the lives of the majority of the people in the country. But I must ask you to be patient and allow my Government time to organize programmes that will effectively yield that change. There are people without land who need land, people without jobs who need jobs, children without schools who need schools and patients without hospitals who need them. We are also fully aware of the need for increased wages in all sectors of employment. My Government will certainly do its best to meet the existing needs in these areas. But you have to assist us by being patient and peaceful.
“I now finally wish to appeal to you, wherever you are, to participate fully today and Saturday in the Independence celebrations that have been organized throughout the country. There are, of course, those of you who have the duty to maintain essential services. These services must indeed be maintained so that the celebrations are facilitated. Maintaining such essential services during the celebrations is a significant contribution of their success. I wish to thank Her Majesty the Queen for having sent His Royal Highness, Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales to represent her and officiate at our Independence ceremony, where he will perform the symbolic act of severing our colonial ties with Britain.
“As you are aware, this historic ceremony will be witnessed by Heads of State and Government and representatives of nearly 100 countries plus representatives of several international, political and voluntary organizations. The ceremony will be also be reported and relayed to millions of people in the world by the mass media. May I enjoin you all to regard this solemn occasion with honour and dignity, and participate in the celebrations that follow it with jubilation. Let us rejoice over our independence and recognize in it the need to dedicate ourselves to national unity, peace and progress. I now wish to pay tribute to Lord Soames, our Governor, for the most important role he has played in successfully guiding this country to elections and independence. He was from the very onset given a difficult and most unenviable task. And yet he performed it with remarkable ability and overwhelming dignity.
“I must admit that I was one of those who originally never trusted him, and yet I have now ended up not only implicitly trusting but fondly loving him as well. He is indeed a great man through whom it has been possible within a short period I have been Prime Minister, to organize substantial financial and technical aid from Britain and other countries. I am personally indebted to him for the advice he has constantly given me on the art of managing the affairs of Government.
“I shall certainly be missing a good friend and counselor, and so will our independent Zimbabwe and all its people. I also wish to thank all our distinguished quests for the honour they have given us by coming to attend our Independence celebrations on behalf of their countries or organizations. Their presence in our country signifies a bond of solidarity and friendship between their countries or organizations and our country. Without the support they have given us towards our liberation, this day would never have come about.
“Thanks, therefore, for all the material, political, diplomatic and moral support they have given us. Sons and daughters of Zimbabwe, I urge you to participate fully and jubilantly in our Independence celebrations and to ensure that all our visitors are well entertained and treated with utmost hospitality. I shall be one in spirit and love, in loyalty and commitment with you all. Forward with the Year of the People’s Power! Long live our Freedom! Long live our Sovereignty! Long live our Independence!”
THAT WAS HIS SPEECH AT INDEPENDENCE. 20 000 MORE LIVES WERE TAKEN NOT LONG AFTER THAT. LEST WE FORGET.
One comment above is “smith reguime. Trampling on blacks rights”…………maybe so, but looking back at 30 odd years of “black majority rule” one can only wonder who has trampled on the rights of blacks…….and whites. History if written correctly and without all the properganda will prove I am sure that other than the fact that the majority did not have the vote, life was better in Rhodesia, atleast basic requirements like food and health care and education was available to all!!!!!
On Saturday 12 April 1986, before a crowd of tens of thousands who had gathered to pay their last respects to former ZIPRA Commander Lt Gen Lookout “Mafela” Khalisabantu Vumindaba Masuku in Bulawayo , the late Vice President Joshua Nkomo delivered a powerful and emotional speech.
It was a speech of how Zimbabwe was losing direction, and most parts of the speech remain relevant today:
“Those who rule our country know inside themselves that Lookout played a very big part in winning our struggle.
And yet they let him die in prison.
I say he died in prison because he died on that bed on which he was detained.
It was not possible for him to leave that bed and it was not possible for you to see him.
Therefore, I say he died in prison.
Why should men like Lookout and Dumiso, after being found innocent of any wrongdoing by the highest court in this land remain detained? When we ask we get the same answer from the Minister as we used to get from the Smith regime.
Mafela, Lookout, after all his sacrifices, died a pauper in our own hands.
We cannot blame colonialism and imperialism for this tragedy.
We who fought against these things now practise them.
Why? Why? Why? We are enveloped in the politics of hate.
The amount of hate that is being preached today in this country is frightful.
What Zimbabwe fought for was peace, progress, love, respect, justice, equality, not the opposite.
And one of the worst evils we see today is corruption.
The country bleeds today because of corruption.
It is appropriate that the site chosen for Lookout’s grave lies near a memorial to those who fought against Hitler.
Lookout fought against fascism, oppression, tribalism and corruption.
Any failure to dedicate ourselves to the ideals of Masuku will be a betrayal of him and of all those freedom fighters whose graves are not known.
Our country cannot progress on fear and false accusations which are founded simply on the love of power.
There is something radically wrong with our country today and we are moving, fast, towards destruction.
There is confusion and corruption and, let us be clear about it, we are seeing racism in reverse under false mirror of correcting imbalances from the past.
In the process we are creating worse things.
We have created fear in the minds of some in our country.
We have made them feel unwanted, unsafe.
Young men and women are on the streets of our cities.
There is terrible unemployment.
Life has become harsher than ever before.
People are referred to as squatters.
I hate the word.
I do not hate the person.
When people were moved under imperialism certain facilities like water were provided.
But under us? Nothing! You cannot build a country by firing people’s homes.
No country can live by slogans, pasi (down with) this and pasi that.
When you are ruling you should never say pasi to anyone.
If there is something wrong with someone you must try to uplift him, not oppress him.
We cannot condemn other people and then do things even worse than they did.
Lookout was a brave man.
He led the first group of guerrillas who returned home at ceasefire.
Lookout, lying quietly here in his coffin, fought to the last minute of his life for justice.
It is his commitment to fair play that earned him his incarceration.
Some of you are tempted to give away your principles in order to conform.
Even the preachers are frightened to speak freely and they have to hide behind the name of Jesus.
The fear that pervades the rulers has come down to the people and to the workers.
There is too much conformity.
People work and then they shut up.
We cannot go on this way.
People must be freed to be able to speak.
We invite the clergy to be outspoken.
Tell us when we go wrong.
When Lookout was in Parirenyatwa he requested to be able to say goodbye to his friend Dumiso.
The request was refused.
“No!” By our own government!
He is not being buried in Heroes’ Acre.
But they can’t take away his status as a hero.
You don’t give a man the status of a hero.
All you can do is recognise it.
It is his.
Yes, he can be forgotten temporarily by the State.
But the young people who do research will one day unveil what Lookout has done
Dube, comrade, thank you for printing that speech…such a pity, so sad in hindsight, we could have been so much more in Zimbabwe….what was fought for was freedom, peace and prosperity for all! What we got was the odour of fear and death, hatred and oppression for all who had a differing view…what happened to one man one vote? We the people of Zimbabwe deserve so much more than what we have been given in 34 years of independence….the only consolation is that we serve an Almighty God, He is in complete control and is a God of Grace and mercy who prefers justice and righteousness and will answer prayer for peace and prosperity for ALL ethnic tribes and races in Zimbabwe, pray my brothers and sisters for deliverance of the hatred and oppression in Zimbabwe!!!!!Jesus heal our country I beg you…there is too much suffering!
Our GOD reigns It just annoys me that the struggle has been hijacked by criminals and thieves. That man paid the ultimate sacrifice and was still very practical and without hate. Our own Mandela? YES.
@Our GOD reigns WE PRAY WITH YOU BROTHER. LORD HEAR OUR PRAYERS.
yes! The battle is the Lord’s and may He be glorified in this nation. It is His
I Concur.
The madness if man. But Mugabe is not a man. He is just mad!!!!
Abel Muzowera should have been the choice for the voters in 1980, but maybe he was? maybe the vote rigging started in 1980!
The list is long it started with JT, then Lookout and progressed. A leopard never changes his spots the mechanism that ended these hero has ended many more. We will re bury the dead in heros acre and if there are mugabes we will place them elsewhere. These are not heros.
opportunities lost. Generations lost . All because of power hungry ,corrupt Zanu
Never ever have we seen such stubbornness. Never ever have we seen such foolishness. Even now at this late hour Zimbabwe could bloom. All it is waiting for is the water of wisdom and tolerance. Why are these guys so set in their ways of destruction?
It was never going to happen, not when the devils spawn was handed power. How he fooled the world for a while but his horns have shown for years. Never in the course of African history has one man destroyed a country and it’s spirit so absolutely while caring for nothing or no one but himself.
Its not any easy road.
The story of our country is unfolding…the truth is floating up to the surface….these filthy, despicable people who have destroyed the future of generations of young Zimbabweans shall be recorded forever. We will know your names.
My country and proud people have been raped blundered abused used and the list goes on but we will defeat evil and that time is near. So Zanu get ready to vacate your high horse. Kweches
True! Our socioeconomic status is dire compared to Rhodesia. This is is not to say that we wish Rhodesia back. The equation is that Rhodesia has been turned into a Zimbabwe Ruins! Mugabe as the God Father of the cult can depart in the next moment from that chair, nothing will change. It is the whole junta that is corrupt to core. when are are we going to say this is enough? Can we just cry forever?
Zvichapera chete .Hapanachisingapere .Idi Amin akabva ingawani,Mobuto Seseseko aripi,koBanda haana kufa akazvisiya zvese.One day tichangomuka tichinzwa kuti Bob atsakatika ndukupera kweZanu nekuti ndiye glue rakabatanidza Zanu
“Chinbabwe” for the foreseeable future,
because ZANU-PF will pay, bribe, relinquish
assets just to have China guarantee their
survival.
They have no other “Protector” that
have the resources to do the job.
Unfortunately, NIKUV and Beijing will keep
“Chinbabwe” free of democracy, freedom and peace
for decades to come.
A whole “Chinbabwe” generation will die off,
never knowing true Independence and Freedom…..sad!