Herald
22 April 2011
By Farirai Chubvu
‘‘THESE are makers of carrion,” the wary ones said, “do not shelter them. See their eyes, their noses, such are the beaks of all the desert’s predatory birds. We laughed at the fearful ones, gave the askers shelter and watched them unsuspicious, watched them turn in the fecundity of our way, the way itself became a lonely memory for abandoned minds . . . for those who came as beggars turned snakes after feeding,” writes Ayi Kwei Armah, in his book Two Thousand Seasons, a book which tells of how white supremacists have successfully distorted black history and achievements.
He goes on to say, “Destroyers will travel long distances in their minds to deny you this truth.”
A truth which is being denied by former Rhodesian security operative David Coltart, whose article on the online website newzimbabwe.com called our 31st independence anniversary celebrations ‘‘a farce.”
What cheek!
Coltart was apparently oblivious to the fact that, the fact that he could write such trash that insults our collective memory without comebacks is testimony to how democratic this country is.
Anyone can say what they want and not have to look over their shoulders.
However, Coltart is either very naïve or mischievous to make such scandalous allegations at a time thousands of bones of patriots who perished at the hands of Coltart and his compatriots are being extracted from mine shafts in Chibondo, Mt Darwin.
Imagine an Arab standing at Ground Zero in New York and hailing the virtues of Osama bin Laden, or a skin-head with swastika tattoos all over, standing in central Jerusalem, Israel proclaiming the virtues of the Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler.
But I forgive Coltart for his fulminations because he apparently lost his privileged position as a super-citizen in Rhodesia and is now just the same as my aunt, down under in Dotito, though he is abusing the independence and democracy that sees him, a man who opposed majority rule by fighting on the side of the Rhodesian Security Forces, enjoy a ministerial position in a black Government he never wanted to see born, that he would rather have quashed and destroyed true to Ian Smith’s ‘‘not in a thousand years” refrain.
Coltart, whose ilk profited on the grounds of race from Rhodesia’s segregationist and exclusionist policies, would naturally have nothing to celebrate about the land reform programme because the land is being transferred from people like him to their former workers.
He would naturally have nothing to celebrate about indigenisation and economic empowerment because those policies seek to put him at par with his erstwhile perceived chattel slaves.
However, no sane black person can ever belittle the gains of independence.
I, however, do not forgive my fellow black brothers and sisters at the Daily News who had the audacity to claim that we went through ‘31 years of hell’ since April 18 1980.
The tone of the article was that Ian Smith was right, black majority rule has been a disaster and we would have been better off remaining under the colonial yoke.
Either the writer of the article and her bosses are retarded or they were just being deliberately naughty to assuage their handlers.
Coltart’s fulminations and the frantic agenda-setting by the likes of the Daily News are easy to understand given the fact that we celebrate 31 years of Independence at a time forces opposed to our total emancipation have ranged against us for daring to go beyond the façade of flag independence.
As a nation we chose to take the bull by the horns. We dropped the short-end of the stick the erstwhile coloniser had given us at the Lancaster House Constitutional Conference.
And, over the past 31 years, we have systematically worked to transform our country into a truly independent unitary state.
Independence does not only mean flying our flag over our territory, neither does it mean having black faces in Government.
Independence means non-dependence on anyone but ourselves for our own destiny.
And when we look at the path travelled over the past 31 years, there is every reason to celebrate the achievements scored, gains that are unparalleled by any nation that attained political independence in our generation, or even those that have been free much longer.
The gains in the social services sector are phenomenal, infrastructure development, housing, you name it, the only blight was an economy dominated by foreign-owned companies, and this is what we are painstakingly changing on the back of crippling economic sanctions imposed to subvert our drive for holistic independence.
Indeed, the fact that despite a sustained seven-year assault, our country has not gone under is testimony to the strength of the foundation laid since 1980.
Yes, there are those who point gleefully at the prevailing economic hardships as a sign of failure.
I disagree with them strongly.
What our nation is experiencing are the pangs of transformation, and any reasonable person can concur that the economic malaise of the past decade was spawned by illegal Western economic sanctions.
Our economy has not collapsed, but that which we called our economy when it was in fact a white economy is collapsing, and in its place an indigenous Zimbabwean economy is emerging on the back of a genuine land-owning middle class.
That transformation cannot occur overnight, neither can it be cosy; it is a duel with dark forces whose very existence hinges on continued exploitation of our resources, with us as the labourers.
These are the forces that drive the likes of Coltart to insult us like that, and have the slavish Daily News print such scandalous drivel.
Never again will we allow them to reverse the gains we have made, amid so much opposition.
However, for that transformation to be achieved expeditiously, we must all pull in the same direction.
This is the last phase of our struggle, and history tells us that the myopia of those who opted to abet the enemy prolonged the liberation struggle.
This is why we need this day, to dedicate ourselves to the ideals of the struggle, close ranks to defeat the machinations of those seeking to torpedo and reverse our Independence.
The sanctions imposed by the West are not for our benefit, but they are meant to benefit their kith and kin, which we have dispossessed of resources that are rightfully ours.
Thus whether we are Zanu-PF, MDC-T, MDC or Mavambo, let us differ only on the modalities of governing our nation, not who should govern it.
We won the right to self-determination 31 years ago, and the sooner the likes of Coltart and the Daily News realise it, the better.
fariraichubvu@gmail.com
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