The Sunday Mail
This year’s Heroes’ Day will be especially remarkable.
For the first time since independence, civilians and civil servants will be honoured for their heroic selfless sacrifice through their distinguished service in the national interest.
In the past, such recognition was understandably specially reserved for members of the uniformed forces.
And this has since changed.
Heroism cannot be consigned in time — it is inter-generational.
Every day, there are people who are prepared to go beyond the call of duty to serve their communities and motherland.
Take the inimitable and indefatigable playwright, author, biographer, historian and newspaper columnist Pathisa Nyathi for example.
To date, he has written more than 50 books that are critical in capturing historical accounts and explaining the importance of our history, culture and heritage as a people.
Through his extraordinary work, therefore, he has created a timeless repository and reference that helps us and generations to come to know who we are.
And this week, the Government will fittingly honour him for his works with a Commendation Award.
There are many like Pathisa Nyathi who pour out their life’s worth by investing in efforts for the greater good.
They are found in politics, agriculture, mining, arts and academia.
And they, too, deserve to be recognised, commended and honoured.
This is not only motivational, but it engenders a people that is conscious of the need to protect and exalt the country of their birth. The Second Republic has clearly shown that it is prepared to break the mould. In 2019, in a marked break from the past, it declared iconic musician Dr Oliver Mtukudzi a national hero.
In his loaded eulogy, President Mnangagwa eloquently expressed why the creative artiste deserved such a status.
“As we lay our national hero, Tuku, to rest, let us as a nation rededicate ourselves to use our gifting, calling and the professions to advance the development of our country.
“Let us equally desire to live our lives in a manner that impacts positively on humanity now and in the future . . .
“We should, therefore, take a leaf from this exemplary son of the soil. No matter where we go, what we achieve, let us be like Tuku, never despise or seek to harm our motherland,” he said.
“We have one country, one nation, one Zimbabwe. The lyrics of his songs like ‘Hatidi Hondo, Hondo Hatidi’ must be a constant reminder for us to live in peace, love and unity. I, therefore, challenge us all to always seek to protect our country, Zimbabwe, to fly our national flag high in all we do, love our country and be patriotic towards it.
“He entertained and united millions of people as well as branding and marketing our country as a safe and friendly destination of choice.”
Indeed, we have heroes who live among us. But on Tuesday, we again get the opportunity to thank our security forces, who keep us safe from local and external enemies. The importance of peace and freedom cannot be over-emphasised.
It is, however, fragile and needs to be jealously guarded.
It is hard to build peace, but easy to destroy it, and once it is lost, it is incredibly difficult to rediscover.
Only those who have lived through war know the value of peace, while those who have lived in peace glorify violence.
Despite the extraordinary challenges that we have faced as a young nation, our security forces have remained steadfast in ensuring that we are always at peace.
In the process, they have successfully underwritten our developmental aspirations that are espoused in Vision 2030, whose underlying objective is to create a prosperous society with high standards of living. All this cannot be possible without peace.
Over the past year, we have seen how peace and stability can decidedly influence the direction of the economy.
Companies are increasingly upbeat about their performance and future prospects, and major infrastructure projects are presently underway.
We are making significant headway in achieving the targets that we have set for ourselves. We clearly have to double down on our reform agenda. Therefore, the two important national holidays that we celebrate this week — Heroes’ Day and Defence Forces Day — should be a constant reminder of the need to both unconditionally defend our motherland and maniacally work for its betterment.
Again, we need to take time to thank our brave heroes, both living and departed.
We owe them that much.
