The Sunday Mail
Dr Gift Gwindingwe
THE socio-cultural, political and economic turbulence that Zimbabwe experienced since the colonial period required the sweat and blood of no one else except Zimbabweans to bring peace.
The political and economic upheavals that we still endure need our involvement as a united nation to calm them down. We need our past, to look at, in order to map the future. We are our own looking glass mirror.
Commemoration of Unity Day, which was held last Thursday, should galvanise our cause for a solidly united republic. The Second Republic is steered under the transformative agenda.
As we commemorate our unity in diversity, we need to pursue and foster transformative justice as a desired pathway towards a new governance system that embraces all and sundry in our weaknesses and strengths to forge a liveable society benchmarked on self-introspection to achieve social justice for peace.
Leaving no one behind and leaving no place/community unattended is a motto to champion the transformative agenda. There are no communities that are better than others to warrant prioritisation at the expense of others; there are no regions and ethnic groups that are more superior to others to warrant preferential treatment. Zimbabwe is one.
Under the banner of the transformative agenda is transformative justice, which is socially and politically therapeutic: no historical patches should be allowed to divide the Republic of Zimbabwe; no amount of external intimidation should find space in our hearts and minds to separate us.
The Unity Day we commemorate on December 22 every year is a symbolic construction to guide us and remind us that divided we fall and united we stand firm.
Commemoration of our Unity Day takes us down memory lane to remind us that pride and personal gain do not take us anywhere.
We need to move as a united Republic, putting Zimbabwe first, acknowledging that no individuals are bigger and better than Zimbabwe.
Our post-independence misunderstandings only came to a refreshing end upon realisation by our founding fathers and mothers that Zimbabwe should come first.
The 1987 Unity Accord was born and hands were shaken in acknowledgement of the power and significance of unity for peace and development.
The post-2000 political differences that almost put Zimbabwe to a standstill in 2008 only normalised after the formation of the Government of National Unity (GNU). It was a Government formed for the sole purpose of (national) unity.
If we do not refer to our past to forge a way forward, then we are stagnant. We are not moving politically, culturally and economically.
Therefore, let us look at our past with a nostalgic organic appetite to learn from it, let us not look at our past with a nauseating and vengeful attitude because we sink, instead of floating; a country mired in violence and polarity is a country stuck in the sewer of civil strife and political violence.
Zimbabweans need tolerance and accommodation. Zimbabwe needs social, cultural and political discourses that speak to our African-ness rooted in the philosophy of Ubuntu while navigating the global economic routes to remain with the much-needed international appeal.
Meanwhile, the international re-engagement drive should form an axis around which local unity among ourselves should be moulded.
Zimbabwe commemorates Unity Day and calls for unity in the current and future generations.
It is more than essential that we take the transformative rather than punitive trajectory in addressing any differences that may arise among us.
The Second Republic has everything to show in its desire to achieve transformational justice among the citizens. Zimbabwe is on course to see to the fruition of the seeds of the Unity Accord.
Acknowledging irregularities in legislation, reforming and repealing some are giant steps towards building a great Zimbabwe.
Reviewing restrictive media laws such as Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) was a leapfrog towards transformational justice as it restores the space and voice of journalist; a combative effort towards co-regulation of the media is an acknowledgement by the Second Republic that we need to co-exist; we need to complement each other. Government is taking a mixed-method approach where weaknesses of one side are complemented by the strengths of another side and in that mode, Zimbabwe can rise through the brick-by-brick modus operandi.
Media as a conduit and a signpost in forging unity
Communication is made transactional when media are liberated.
Meanings are created, repaired, maintained and produced in a media-friendly atmosphere.
On the same note, unity is achievable when communication is transactional, when there is sharedness among Zimbabweans, that is, when Zimbabweans speak the same Zimbabwean concerns. Nationalistic and patriotic journalism can take us through this road to transformative justice in all facets of governance. Patriotic journalism heals.
It vapours polarisation and unites citizens, it seals all fissures that might be used for infiltration by the neo-liberal forces that still pursue a divisive agenda by financing discourses that rapture and fracture our cherished peace.
We all belong, unless some among us choose to be prodigal; but still, nationalistic and patriotic journalism should teach us to embrace such prodigal elements and accommodate them in our midst.
Unity is cardinal and it reflects in such tolerance. Our forefathers shared differences and squared off in a political boxing ring but embraced one another upon realisation.
Why can’t we? Whose footsteps will we be following if we can’t follow our forefathers’?
In commemorating our Unity Day, let us strive to be a cruising generation!
Patriotic journalism should teach, warn and inform.
It is a signpost that directs and warns of danger ahead; it alerts if the road is slippery, bumpy or rugged.
Or if we are approaching sharp curves.
It is time for all scribes to come aboard the transformative agenda and speak with one voice about Zimbabwe for Zimbabweans.
Patriotic journalism is a conduit to prevent and stop violence and harm without creating more violence and harm.
If, in times of crises, harm becomes endemic, patriotic journalism should be a conduit and a signpost to transform such a society to build a culture that is remote from violence.
The scribes should engage in transformative justice, a pathway that seeks solutions that do not heighten or propagate further violence.
The Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD) is an example of a forum that should be framed with a view to advancing national cause and not to dwarf certain political actors, basing on their election achievements, while trying to impose other political actors as indispensable.
Such a divisive approach sows seeds of polarisation that create tension and breed intolerance and violence.
Each frame by a scribe can lead to a cultural shift either away from harm or towards harm. In pursuing the transformative agenda, let us behold our pen, our camera and our voice!
Dr Gift Gwindingwe is an academic and researcher working as a lecturer in the Media Department at Great Zimbabwe University. His research interests are national identity, political communication, Chimurenga history and post-colonial literature.
