Today we stand at the edge of a new beginning, a golden age for our nation and its people. We have come a long way to be were we are today. The road has been hard and we have lost friends and family along the way. As we are making our progression into the future we need to evaluate our selves as a people and a nation. Our current state of mind, the nature and state of our society and our perceptions of one another are the major highlights of what makes our identity as Zimbabweans. If all these are analysed and the results studied there is one question to be asked, “Is the nature of our society the best model for nation building?”
The Shona and Ndebele conflicts began when the Ndebele under Mzilikazi first invaded the Shona in 1840 and reigned over much of Southern Zimbabwe with an iron hand. Under Ndebele rule the Shona where subjected to slavery and dehumanising treatment having their woman and children taken during the frequent raids.
White rule was later established in 1890 and Zimbabwe then Rhodesia entered the colonial era. The white mans rule was cruel to the black Rhodesians but however was not as extreme as that of the Ndebele on the Shona. There was an apartheid system in place which made for the segregation of blacks, coloureds and whites.
In 1893 the Shona people under the leadership of spirit mediums waged their first war against colonial rule. The battle was hard fought and lasted for three years with the Shona finally succumbing to the military force of the white man. However the first Chimurenga as it is popularly known gave birth to future struggles for liberation.
At first the white man was a treasure seeker looking to plunder the wealth of African kingdoms but after some time he began to feel comfortable and decided to settle permanently. The land Apportionment act of 1930 gave much of the productive land to the white settlers with the majority of the blacks being settled in marginalised areas with sandy soils and erratic rainfall. The blacks were treated not as slaves but as inferior beings not worthy to participate as equals with the white man in his society.
The tipping point to the cruel apartheid system came in the early 1970’s when the combined fronts of the Shona and Ndebele gorilla groups ZANLA and ZIPRA waged a war of liberation. 1980 saw the emergence of an independent African state led by the black majority. Elections where held and the Shona led by Robert Mugabe won by a massive landslide owing to the larger Shona population.
In 1983 conflict erupted in Matabeleland between the government and dissidents belonging to the ZAPU military wing ZIPRA. The conflict left thousands dead and a nation divided along tribal lines. The unity peace accord was signed in 1987 between ZANU PF and ZAPU bringing the two parties together but not the Shona and Ndebele people that made the composition of the two parties.
Land redistribution was promised to the disadvantaged black people after the attainment of independence in 1980 but was postponed to allow for the smooth transition of power from white to black rule. In 1998 however the approach to land reform changed and by 2003 land was being violently grabbed by former liberation war heroes acting independent from the main ZANU PF political party that they indirectly fell under. Over time the land reform process was formalized and white owned land was seized and distributed to landless black Zimbabweans. The process was marred with controversy with the government being accused of distributing the land to ZANU PF supporters only.
In 2005 operation Murambatsvina was launched. Thousands of houses deemed illegal settlements where destroyed leaving thousands of Zimbabweans homeless.
2008 was marked by a sharp turn in the nature of the politics of Zimbabwe. A massive clampdown on opposition political parties contesting Mugabe’s rule was launched perpetrated by war veterans and other ZANU PF supporters. Organised disorder was the order of the day with the country’s security forces turning a blind eye to the violence with some police officers in some instances being victimised themselves. The violence erupted after the much contested March elections in which the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) won the greater part of the parliamentary seats. The results of the presidential elections where contested bitterly with the MDC claiming victory and ZANU PF calling for a recount. After the June runoff in which MDC supporters boycotted the elections, Mugabe was elected president and sworn in as the head of state and government. By August 2008 the situation was still tense and the two major political parties had to reach a compromise and form a Unity government in which Mugabe is president and Tsvangirai leader of the MDC is prime minister.
Today Zimbabwe is run by a unity government though however there is a lot of backbiting and antagonising forces acting on program implementation. Looking at our nation and the divisions among its people we can see that;
1. We have tribal divisions between the Shona and Ndebele and also within the Shona speaking tribes.
2. The causes and results of the first, second and so called third Chimurenga have fathered great racial hatred between the white and black communities.
3. The post independence period from the Gukurahundi to the 2008 political unrest has set deep groves in the already existent political and tribal divisions.
With these divisions can we say as a nation we are ready to embrace the future and walk into a golden age as brothers and sisters with the capacity of building a powerful nation? Will these divisions allow us to prosper as individual groups or will they provide ground for the further degeneration of our nation. We have gone through enough suffering; we truly deserve the promise of a prosperous future for us and our children. With the way things are today it is evident that we are simply peddling the legacy of tribal and racial hatred that makes up our identity as Zimbabweans. Is this how we want to write down the history of our nation as the third generation Zimbabweans? Or are we going to take up the active duty of transforming the attitudes of our people and bring them together to form one united nation with a brand new identity that speaks of unity and love? There is need for us to come together as a nation, walking hand to hand as brother and sister we will break tribal, racial and political divisions for through that alone will we be worthy custodians of a new and better Zimbabwe. Fore going the past conflicts lets become the generation that brings change to Zimbabwe. Paying no reference to the past political, tribal and racial conflicts lets become the third generation Zimbabweans that are fighting for the one thing we all care about and that’s our Zimbabwe. There is need to rebuild our nation laying the foundation of a future prosperous Zimbabwe with one hand and bring together the brightest and most capable minds to work our economy and industries.
The participants of the past conflicts are facing the end of their generation and we are to be the fathers and mothers of our nation and as such if we are to be better parents we need to prepare for the birth of a new people. If we fail to change our perceptions and attitudes towards one another today how can we work together tomorrow? The moment calls for us to come together as third generation Zimbabweans and stand our ground stating our intentions of becoming brothers and sisters in a united Zimbabwe.
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