via Zanu PF masters of diversion – Southern Eye 10 January 2014
BULAWAYO Provincial Affairs minister Eunice Sandi-Moyo’s first policy initiative since her appointment in September last year is a proposal to rename all roads, buildings, stadiums and health institutions with English names.
The recommendation was made to the city council through the Bulawayo Metropolitan provincial administrator’s office.
It echoed a resolution by Zanu PF at its December conference where the party outlined its intentions to rename towns such as Victoria Falls and other landmarks, which it says bear colonial names.
The campaign actually started in 2002 where then Education minister Aeneas Chigwedere tried to change names of several schools, but was blocked by parents. Chigwedere had actually changed names of schools such as Milton High in Bulawayo to Khumalo High, Prince Edward High in Harare to Murenga High after a so-called Njelele spirit medium that instigated and directed the First Chimurenga of 1896-1897.
Warren Park 3 Primary had been renamed Chenjerai Hunzvi Primary after the late war veterans’ leader who instigated the violent land invasions from 2000.
The fact that Zimbabwe has been independent since 1980 and Zanu PF still feels it has not addressed that aspect of the country’s colonial past should be a serious indictment on the party on its own.
However, what we found disconcerting is that a minister deployed to a city described as a scrapyard in need of urged fixing by President Robert Mugabe at his inauguration in August 2013 would find changing names of roads and buildings a top priority!
Bulawayo City Council has respectfully advised that recommendations to change names of some of the roads the government is pushing to rename were made in 2007.
The same Zanu PF government has been sitting on the proposals, mostly likely because they were made by an MDC-dominated council.
Sandi-Moyo has started on a wrong footing and if this is a sign of things her office would do in the next five years, then Bulawayo is headed for a disaster.
Our leaders are clearly fiddling while Rome is burning.
Zanu PF is trying by all means to divert people from issues that need urgent redress and the proposals by the provincial office is just one of them.
COMMENTS
Hmmm, maybe after we indiginize all of the institutional names in the country, we should just tear down all of the western buildings and replace them with bush structures and start wearing animal skins. And lets just use talking drums instead of cell phones. But then it’s probably inevitable that ZANU-PF will want to start taxing talking drums as well!
Name changing is not a priority issue.She got her inspiration from the recent change of Main St to J N Nkomo.
Make up she applies in the morning should be changed
After the election was stolen or should I say given away by MDC-T, everyone has been walking around as if they are lost. So it’s a good time to change all names so that people become completely lost.
Surely name changes are supposed to be done when the economy is ticking and the society has nothing much to do. Not in the middle of a live economic horror movie!
It’s not about economics. If it were, Zimbabwe would be booming.
When you have thieves, thugs and murderers running the show, they need things like name changing to keep the masses chaotically lost and confused
Maybe its also time from Eunice and propose for Robert to change his too. Pathetic….these are useless political gimmicks which do not have any benefit whatsoever to the struggling masses.
Let our leaders Change their Colonial Names first, Robert “Murambakubva”Mugabe ,Webster “Manyoka” Shamu,Simon “Mgiqiki” Khaya Moyo, Obert “Makhoth’izibunu” Mpofu”,Emmerson “Murayi” Mnangagwa” Absalom “Nsindizwe” Sikhosana..Ignatious “Magaro” Chombo..the list runs endless…let them lead by example
Error.. Maybe its time for Eunice and Robert to change their names too.
Where does Bob come into this?
He has a colonial name
Why people would want to eraze thier history is beyond me. People are starving in Zimbabwe yet they continue to try to exorsize demons that are not there. Build new roads and name then with things that have been done after Idependance. E.G. build a new road to Mat south and call it Hunger Road.
So called leaders.no brains at all.
God help us !!!
This lady should meet the people of Byo like me to hear our complaints if she considers herself a leader of some credible status.I would enjoy telling her to visit all the roads and industries within Byo and then ask her to tell me how she expects our children to survive with zero resources.If she is not naive and dull she would change her priorities.Byo is becoming a real ghost town with people moving around town aimlessly due to frustration and emptiness in their lives.Its a sad story to watch people being reduced to total emptiness in their dreams.Its annoying to hear of a leader concentrating on trivial issues when we are faced with total disaster in our economy.
Let them change their names first, then they will change roads and schools’ names
To you DL
Please work up from that stupid stagnation. Wearing nhembe was not permanent but was just a stage. Even if the whites did not come to Africa we were going to evolve. So usanamata zvako murungu uchifunga kuti ndiye mwari wako akaita kuti upfehe hembe.