Zimbabwe celebrates its 41st independence anniversary on Sunday, a reminder of the travails that citizens went through to attain universal suffrage.
It’s a day in which Zimbabweans reflect on the journey travelled and remember the ultimate price paid for the independence and the peace we enjoy today.
Alfred Nikita Mangena, General Josiah Magama Tongogara and Herbert Wiltshire Chitepo are some of the fighters who sacrificed for the birth of the new nation.
They did not leave to see a new Zimbabwe as they died in the homestretch of the liberation struggle. There are also thousands that died at Chimoio and Nyadzonia massacres.
Some had their properties destroyed for supporting the liberation struggle by providing logistics and intelligence on the Rhodesian forces.
The freedom fighters borrowed from Chairman Mao who implored the guerrilla fighters to be among people as a fish swims in the seas.
The strategy worked and independence came. As the nation reflects on the road travelled, the best it can do is to fulfill the wishes of the departed. The struggle for liberation was about universal suffrage, equal access to the means of production and the opening up of the democratic space.
Zimbabwe embarked on the fast track land reform programme in 2000 to redress historical imbalances.
The exercise has brought in a new breed of farmers that have transformed agriculture. The growth in tobacco output has been attributed to the new farmers who have toiled with little resources.
Yet the revolutionary exercise has its challenges: there are multiple farm owners depriving those that want land for production. The multiple owners are leasing the land.
There are also absentee landlords that have failed to put the land to good use. The absence of 99-year leases has complicated matters for farmers with banks reluctant to lend to agriculture on the basis that there is no security. It’s an area the government has failed to resolve for the growth of the agriculture sector.
Until last year, Zimbabwe had one television station. The licensing of six players is intended to achieve media plurality. Zimbabwe now has community radio stations and campus radio players.
The repeal of the notorious Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act is a clear step in the removal of landmines for the media industry.
The coming on board of new players is critical for media diversity and strengthens democracy.
Harassment of journalists has remained even in the new dispensation, a throwback to the old era. Critics say the democratic space is being closed through politically motivated arrests accusing the government of receding to the old ways of doing things. Critics say the administration is burning midnight oil to decimate the opposition ahead of the 2023 elections.
As Zimbabwe celebrates its independence, it is the duty of the government to create an enabling environment for business to thrive, improve the standards of living and reduce the widening gap between the rich and the poor. Lest Independence Day will just be like any other day.
