(Last Updated on September 18, 2015 by Editor)
ZIMBABWE – Terence Mapuka writing for Kubatana: The reason for most inventions we enjoy now was a need. A need to solve a problem that the inventor was experiencing or observed whether in his community or another. In our beloved nation we are riddled with problems that have affected our day-to-day living. Electricity is in short supply, clean water is not readily available and our economy lacks opportunities for young graduates to be employed.
I once read somewhere that in the midst of a storm the eagle soars high and rides the storm. Our country needs eagles not just from the current leadership and productive adults but mostly from the young men and women who are destined to be the leaders of tomorrow, the workforce of this nation in a couple of years. I use to think being learned gives you a great advantage to make it in life. Don’t get me wrong education is very important and I support and promote it. But how is it a highly learned nation like Zimbabwe finds itself in such shambles? What are we doing wrong or what are we not doing at all?
My dad was a fighter destined to ensure a better future for his children. He fought in the liberation struggle or the Chimurenga as it is affectionately known. Unfortunately he died 7 years after we gained independence, also 7 years after my birth. I listen to the talk of how the Chimurenga was fought and freed us as a people. Not to disrespect the efforts but to actually value them as I value what my father did as well, but are we not focusing on the wrong Chimurenga? I mean our fathers fought that battle because it was required to do so in that current setting. They did what had to be done in that current setting to have the results we are so proud of today. That was their Chimurenga and we have our own now! What are we doing about it? Is it what is required of us to achieve results as our fathers did? We have to agree that this Chimurenga is not about going into the bush with guns and ammunition but it needs its own fight. As we are so proud of our fathers will our children or our children’s children be proud of us as well? Will they say yes they did what had to be done and got the results?
I watch with so much pain as my three little girls run around the house carefree with not an ounce of worry about their own future. They believe dad has it covered! Oh how I pray I will have it covered! My fellow country mates, I include those of Zimbabwean origin who have left the country seeking greener pastures, we have a fight to win! Our Chimurenga is more complex and needs our sophisticated learning minds and not learned minds to conquer. It is not a job for one man or just the leadership; it is a job for everyone.
We pride ourselves as a Christian nation, well Christians pray and call to their God for help. I chose the word help because it means we are involved in the solution, we have an input. We cannot sit back and watch the future of our nation, the future of those little ones eroded! Our fathers did not sit back when they saw what was happening.
To our leaders, we need you to focus on this Chimurenga. We cannot continue to refer to yesteryear victories when we have today’s battles to fight. Those fathers (and mothers are included to be politically correct on gender basis) told us in a proverb that matakadya kare haanyaradzi mwana, the success we enjoyed before cannot satisfy a person faced with challenges today. Let us be real! When you hear the stories of Chimurenga 2 to be precise, it is amazing the community contribution. Yes there were the fighters who carried guns and all, but there were also young men and women who brought food and other necessities for them. There were others who sheltered them and communities that would not say a word to the enemy of their heroes’ whereabouts, at times to their own peril.
It was a united approach and that approach can still work if we all agree on the Zimbabwe we want. Our Zimbabwe!