The Sunday Mail
Gideon Madenhe
As a young man, Mr Gideon Madenhe felt the difference as Zimbabwe acquired its independence in 1980. His parents relayed to him the news that Rhodesians had finally agreed to grant Zimbabwe its freedom. Our reporter Tanyaradzwa Kutaura spoke to Mr Madenhe on how he reacted to the news and the events that followed. We publish his views in his own words.
My memories take me back to the moment when I first received the news that Zimbabwe was finally going to be free.
During that time I was a teenager and was at our rural homestead in Nyashanu, Buhera.
I remember sitting with my fellow brothers and sisters during the school holidays when I first heard that the then Rhodesia had been defeated and was going to give us back our freedom.
I overheard our parents talking about the issue and you could see that they were very excited about what they were discussing.
To be honest, at first I failed to understand what sort of independence my parents were talking about since I was young and did not understand the whole concept of politics.
But after seeing my parents and other elderly persons in the community expressing eagerness to know if the news was real and gathering in small groups talking in a jovial manner, I enquired what was really going on.
At times my parents used to tell us about the Rhodesian government, how it had conquered our ancestors and the manner in which they ill-treated Zimbabweans.
It was heartbreaking, but we had hope that ana Mukoma who were in the bush fighting for our freedom would one day triumph.
After my parents told me the real meaning of independence and how it was achieved, I was filled with joy and went on to tell some of my friends, thinking I was the only one with such kind of information.
The first thing that sprang into my mind was the possibility of freely going to any school, acquiring education and finding a good job anywhere in the country since freedom was now guaranteed.
We celebrated a lot. I remember our community leaders collecting a certain amount of money agreed by all villagers that was directed to purchasing cows and goats for people to slaughter for the celebrations.
A lot of activities took place as people celebrated independence. Since modern radios were scarce, drums were the order of the day and we enjoyed ourselves that day through our local Dzvanga dance.
Musicians also performed live, but these live shows were for grown-ups.
I recall the preachings of reconciliation and for sure, we forgave the Rhodesians.
It was refreshing to be free. I could see that things indeed had changed and just after celebrating independence, my desire to be educated became a reality as the new Zimbabwean Government offered free education.
This year’s lndependence Day, I look forward to celebrate it in the manner in which we used to do it long back, feasting and lots of entertainment.
