46 Years on, Are we Uhuru yet?

“The hardest lesson of my life has come to me late. It is that a nation can win freedom without its people becoming free…” ~ Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo (Father Zimbabwe)

When the fruits of hard earned independence do not materialise socially, politically and economically, any grandiose celebration becomes nothing but an empty (and humiliating) public ritual – a display of glory and freedom that is nowhere to be seen. We reduce a national celebration to a display of the wealth and power of the few that are masters over us, towering over us in VIP sections, attacking the very spirit of independence.

It is not about and never was about the absence of the white man or being under the yoke of the British crown, but the realisation  of freedom economically and politically regardless of the government that be.  Just as a white minority government, and government of a few elites, whatever the colour of the skin, can be as tyrannical and destructive to fairness and freedom.

The vernacular words for independence are particularly striking and a call to reflect on what it truly means to win independence. “Ukuzibusa” (Uzibuse) or “Kuzvitonga” translate to “ruling ourselves.” Two interpretations; (a) to rule ourselves as a country, with no servitude to an external empire as during the colonial times and (b) that as individuals living under a republic, a free state, we rule ourselves and are free. That we are armed with rights and protections to enjoy liberty, to express our thoughts, contest power and shape history. Both interpretations are simultaneously necessary to understand and grasp the full meaning of Independence.

We have to ask ourselves; what did those who came before us suffer and what did they fight against? The one who says they fought against white rule speaks only half truth, because white rule was not merely a face but a system of oppression, exclusion, and brutality. Under what circumstances does the articulation of such a revolutionary spirit take a sacrificial spirit, a bold and unafraid Spirit to fight against the rule of the few while the many suffer? Does it only occur when the oppressor has a white face and can the oppressor wear a black face? Who oppresses - the people or the system and can you get rid of the system altogether?

The independence celebrations in Maphisa were part of a routinized ritual that takes place every year. It always happens the same way; the preceding children' s party, the independence flame, the president’s speech, the mass display by the army, the police, the bands and the school drum majorettes, the soccer match, the gala – every.single.year.

It was good because places like Maphisa were “finally remembered”. Bringing the independence celebration to forgotten places in Matebeleland South is a good symbolic gesture. But symbolic gestures are empty if, even as they come 46 years later, they are devoid of meaningful political, economic and social transformation! Boarding jets and helicopters, and driving fancy cars to Maphisa only to donate bicycles, groceries and houses (if they were more than three) is a slap across the faces of those who fought for independence and a sin (for which those in power must repent) against the blood of those who gave their all to secure this independence. We are a people whose cultures are far too serious about spilt blood to be disrespecting it in this manner. Maphisa and many other places, especially our people living in those areas, are not only forgotten in mass displays and performances, whose hunger can be satisfied with a miraculous construction of stadiums in less than100 days, and food for one or a few days and some music. However, our communities are still in crucial need of long lasting economic upliftment; schools, hospitals, access to markets, modernization etc. When our people become economically free – free from the bondage of beggary and to which we have been reduced and when we cease to be at the discretionary mercy of the few elites for jobs, roads, clinics, stadiums, cultural centres, vocational training and basic groceries, only then shall we be free. 

Merely being remembered and visited is never to be celebrated, it is not enough. No one eats at a stadium or a party or an independence celebration, people need jobs, good schools, good medical facilities, opportunities for their talents.