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IN 1999 Nelson Mandela said, “…the day should not be far off when we shall have a people’s shrine, a Freedom Park, where we shall honour with all the dignity they deserve those who endured pain so we should experience the joy of freedom.”
The earlier Zimbabweans disabused themselves of the notion that the monument standing in Warren Hills —with the misnomer National Heroes’ Acre — is a national shrine the earlier they can stop agonising over who should be interred there.
The Heroes Acre is a Zanu PF shrine and there is probably nothing wrong with that. We all know that history is the propaganda of the victor. Zanu PF won the independence elections in 1980 and has ruled Zimbabwe ever since, so they deem themselves the victors and have for the past 30 years been rewriting the story of Zimbabwe through their own eyes.
According to the history they are writing, they alone fought against the settler regime of Rhodesia. Even Zapu, whose armed wing Zipra, they fought alongside has to be scratched from the history books.
The Heroes Acre was not built as a national project, it was constructed by Zanu PF’s allies, the North Koreans. Another monument which is decidedly Zanu PF is its headquarters in Rotten Row. It was built with money raised from its members and also its allies in the Eastern bloc.
That the highest office in the “shake-shake” building is occupied by a former Zapu official — Zanu PF national chairman Simon Khaya Moyo — is purely political expediency as is the fact that there is a sprinkling of former Zapu/Zipra individuals buried at the Heroes Acre.
For Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his deputy Arthur Mutambara to take the declaration of national heroes as an outstanding issue in the global political agreement is to display a marked lack of political literacy.
Media in Zimbabwe have also joined the debate that seems to vex the minds of political commentators. The truth of the matter is that Zimbabwe does not have a national monument that commemorates the people’s collective struggle against colonialism!
Gibson Sibanda died last week. He was the deputy president of the smaller faction of the Movement for Democratic Change; he was also the founding deputy president of the MDC formed in 1999.
The MDC has shaken Zanu PF to its core; having believed in the politics of one-party-statism, Zanu PF has seen itself suffering the ignominy of sharing power with a party whose history is not steeped in the liberation war of the 1970s.
Sibanda is therefore seen as a traitor to Zanu PF hegemony; this despite his illustrious contribution to the struggle culminating in the three years he spent in detention for fighting the Rhodesian regime. For anyone to have imagined that he would be interred at the Heroes Acre or that he would be declared even a lesser hero such as liberation war hero as was bestowed on President Robert Mugabe’s brother-in-law Reward Marufu, only a few hours later, was an act of pure wishful thinking.
Zimbabweans must now begin to think of building a “Freedom Park” such as the one envisioned by Mandela which is being built in South Africa.
Mandela was aware, in his vision, that the people who “endured pain” to liberate South Africa were not in the ANC alone.
According to its website, “Freedom Park stands as a monument to democracy, which was founded on the values of human dignity, rights and freedom. It serves as a symbol of the tortuous journey to and the sacrifices made for freedom.”
The Park has become the place where South African citizens and international tourists alike have found a haven to reflect on South Africa’s past, but more importantly, also found a beacon for the future.
“A first of its kind internationally, Freedom Park is is a reflection of the sacrificial achievements the nation has made. It tells the story of South Africa’s reconciliation process and the advancement of human rights entrenched in the Constitution. Freedom Park — an embodiment of where we come from as a nation — tells a tale of South Africa’s diverse heritage in a visual and interactive way.
“Freedom Park weaves the story of where South Africans come from and the historical and cultural events that shaped what South Africa is today. In the mind’s eye, the structure brings back to life ancient warriors that roamed the plains of Southern Africa — it recalls to memory the thousands of men and women bearing the yoke of slavery and of a people and a culture so nearly destroyed by genocide.
“Above all, it showcases a nation that does not shrink from even the greatest sacrifice to achieve the extraordinary. It is the heartbeat of all that is South African; its history, culture, spirituality and heritage — the hub through which to know this land of promise.”
So, instead of Zimbabweans whining about a Zanu PF monument, they should put their heads together and begin to think about constructing a truly national monument to our struggle not only against colonialism but also against post-colonial mendacity.
BY NEVANJI MADANHIRE
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