The Sunday Mail
Tafadzwa Mugwadi
ON Monday, April 18, Zimbabwe celebrates 42 years of Independence, freedom and the right to self-determination.
Independence came following a protracted liberation struggle where brave men and women, girls and boys paid the ultimate price in gallant sacrifices that brought down the colonial Union Jack flag.
This marked the end of about 100 years of British tyranny, colonial plunder, expropriation, enslavement, racial segregation and suppression of the black majority.
Today, we proudly walk tall as a people, as we pay homage to those who gave their all to make us free.
Thousands of them perished and continue to lie in unmarked graves, while some were swallowed by waters and mountains without trace as they toiled and wailed to ensure that Zimbabwe is born.
Today, we all take pride in being a people, an empowered nation and a united lot not because someone else did this for us, but we did it for ourselves.
No wonder why the mantra “Nyika Yakauya Nevene Vayo, Nyika Inovakwa Nevene Vayo”, “Ilizwe Lakhiwa Ngabaikazi Balo”.
As we turn 42, I have taken the responsibility to unpack this special revolutionary message of modern-day Pan-Africanism, namely: Nyika Inovakwa Nevene Vayo/Ilizwe Lakhiwa Ngabanikazi Balo.
What was the thinking behind this prophetic rallying war-cry mantra from President E.D Mnangagwa?
Is it an ordinary dream or a living reality?
Are we capable of building our nation with our own hands, our own minds, our own capacity, our God-given natural resources, our own people in unity, peace and harmony?
Do we believe we can do it, or someone else must do it while we watch?
In short, who should take our country forward?
The answer is very clear: Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo, brick upon brick, stone upon stone, ibwe pamusoro perimwe ibwe… and in doing so, no one and no place must be left behind.
Having said so, the million-dollar question is how?
Ahead of the celebrations in Bulawayo, as the party’s Director for Information and Publicity, it is my honour to demystify the mantra Nyika Inovakwa Nevene Vayo as a formula towards a middle-income economy by 2030.
There is no doubt that the mantra has become the guiding philosophy of the Second Republic under the visionary leadership of our liberator, Cde Mnangagwa.
Picking from the foundation laid in the First Republic, Zimbabweans should recall that Independence itself was achieved by the owners of this Republic – Vene Vayo.
There is no challenge that has confronted us as a people since Independence which we have failed to prevail upon.
The white settlers who continued to enjoy the fruits of the land despite having lost the war at the expense of our patient people required that revolutionary giant steps be taken to address the colonial racial imbalances over the ownership of land.
For us as Zimbabweans, land belongs to three categories of people – the living, the dead and the unborn.
The living because we survive and drive our agro-based economy from the land, the dead because their remains are interred in the land and the unborn because the land is their legacy.
It was imperative that we be united with our legacy, the land.
The ZANU PF Government spearheaded the Land Reform Programme, where land was redistributed compulsorily to the black majority from less than 3 000 white farmers who owned over 80 percent of the land.
Do you know that up to now, no other African nation owns its land in totality as Zimbabwe?
Ivhu Rakatorwa Nevene Varo Kuti Nyika Ivakwe Nevene Vayo.
We are the only revolutionary people in Africa who crossed that red-line set by colonialists, in the process earning ourselves derogatory titles such as “an axis of evil”.
We were rewarded by punitive sanctions from the West.
The sanctions were meant to make our economy scream, separate Zimbabweans from their revolutionary party and leadership and break the symbiotic bond sanctified in the blood of liberation.
They were also ultimately meant to lead people to revolt against ZANU PF so that newly formed opposition puppet movements become Trojan Horses to repossess land, enslave our people and disempower them.
Kutorera Vene Venyika Ivhu Kuti Vasavaka Nyika Yavo Sevene Vayo.
The mighty revolutionary people of Zimbabwe resisted resiliently for 22 years and continue to renounce sanctions and stand with their leadership and party despite being under so much economic distress.
The hyperinflationary period came, and our currency became useless, following systematic attacks from the sanctioning nations under US’s Office for Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
All transactions, assets and remittances destined for Zimbabwe were chocked and frozen to make our people scream.
We screamed in resistance, hunting for solutions to our situation.
Companies and investors closed, those who wanted to invest in Zimbabwe were sanctioned, punished and threatened in broad daylight by successive regimes from George Bush and Tony Blair, but our people refused to bend to the colonial whims of the West.
Today, 42 years down the line, despite living under sanctions where our currency is the prime target, we have managed under the Second Republic to bring back our currency, the Zimbabwean dollar.
We faced challenges of food insecurity due to failure to access agricultural inputs following the land reform programme.
This was exacerbated by a then-weak currency.
We had become accustomed to importing almost everything, becoming a ‘Consumer Republic’ in every facet of life.
Under the Second Republic, we have turned the page, becoming a net exporter of grain and food following the adoption of the scientific Pfumvudza/ Intwasa Farming Programme, which ushered in a 2020-2021 bumper harvest season that broke records.
This is indeed because of our empowered black farmers, the new sheriffs in the farms.
It is not political rhetoric when President ED Mnangagwa, a famer in his own right, declares that ‘no Zimbabwean will die of hunger’ under his administration.
To ensure that we put a smile on our farming people, both small and large scale, the Second Republic has commissioned several dams to ensure that going forward, our people shall not rely on natural patterns of climate to determine their farming choices.
Irrigation facilities have been put in place around those communities because Nyika Inovakwa Nevene Vayo.
As we celebrate our Independence Day, all Zimbabweans will attest to the undeniable fact that the last time they saw yellow metal working on our roads under the previous dispensation was a long time ago.
The vision of the Second Republic is to ensure that Zimbabwe emerges from being landlocked to being land-linked.
That can only be possible if our roads speak to other roads in the region, smoothening efficient movement of goods for both domestic and export trade. These roads are being built with our own resources, both human and financial. Tikasazviita Isu, Zvinoitwa Nani? Nyika Inovakwa Nevene Vayo.
In 2020, the world saw the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In March 2020, the pandemic announced its arrival in Zimbabwe, claiming the life of the first victim, my friend, Zororo Makamba.
Despite losing over 5 000 of our people to this pandemic, we are today ranked globally as one of the few countries that managed to contain the spread of the pandemic and saved lives.
Nations were receiving financial assistance from the World Health Organisation, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund but Zimbabwe was denied such funding due to the stigma of sanctions.
The President sought for alternative solutions, support and solidarity to save our people.
Those who continue to maintain sanctions on us today postulated in their narrative that we were going to be littered by dead bodies of Covid-19 victims in the streets, but instead, it happened in their backyard.
They sponsored the same known journalists to spread false news that our Government was killing people in the enforcement of tight lockdowns and curfews.
For the record, no person was ever killed during enforcement of lockdowns in Zimbabwe but they sought to soil our name.
But lies, as President Mnangagwa often says, have short legs.
Today, we are the leading nation in Africa in terms of Covid-19 vaccinations, owing to the solidarity of China, Russia and India as well as the procurement of vaccines by our Government.
We have assisted sister republics like Namibia and Botswana with more vaccines.
We are all alive today because our leadership prioritised saving our lives.
When we were procuring vaccines from China, they paid the same renegade fake news journalists to make false claims that those vaccines were not effective and not recommended and, therefore, people should refuse to be vaccinated.
The opposition elements led by the white front-boy Nelson Chamisa and their rank and file also joined the fake news crusade.
Later on, they joined the queue to be vaccinated themselves without a shame.
They stand vaccinated today without even a word of appreciation.
Cyclone Idai hit Zimbabwe’s Eastern Highlands in 2019, killing over 2 000 people and leaving a legacy of destruction never seen from a natural disaster in Zimbabwe before.
But our disaster preparedness and air-rescue missions led by the President himself demonstrated to the world that indeed, Zimbabwe is ready to confront its challenges head-on.
Today, Chimanimani and neighbouring communities are back to life, infrastructure back to normal and the survivors have smiles on their faces again.
We have done that on our own, with solidarity from friendly nations.
Yes, we have celebrated independence over the past 41 years, but this year, the President has finally shown us the formula – that Nyika Inovakwa Nevene Vayo – by ensuing that the main event is held in the city of Bulawayo for the first time ever.
With unity, oneness and productivity, we have rendered sanctions useless, creating jobs, setting the foundation for the future of housing, harnessing our capacities together to modernise our health system and, above all, providing solutions to the public transport system through revival of Zupco.
Our God-given minerals today, as we celebrate 42 years of Uhuru, are changing the lives of our people throughout the country – the youth, the elderly, women and everyone.
Our manufacturing sector has emerged from the dungeons and is now ready to take giant steps forward.
Under the Second Republic, Independence has gathered its meaning to all.
Let us shun politics of hate, violence, stone-throwing and needless provocations.
Let us all embrace the spirit of hard work as exemplified by our leadership, for only that way can we build a prosperous nation.
Nyika Iyi, Nyika Iyi, Iyoyi Iyi, from Zambezi to Limpopo, Inovakwa Nevene Vayo.
Makorokoto, Congratulations, Amhlope to our war veterans, our founding fathers, our war collaborators, the people of Zimbabwe and our youth and women for turning 42.
May we be all reminded that Zimbabwe shall never be a colony again.
We shall celebrate this Independence for millions of years to come.
We fought our struggle once, we won it, we gave birth to a Republic and today it’s now an adult, ready to take any challenge.
The revolutionary task at hand is to win every community and bring back every community to ZANU PF for development.
Happy 42 birthday Zimbabwe! Till the next birthday, we wish you many more!
*Cde Tafadzwa Mugwadi is the ZANU PF Director for Information and Publicity
