By Nick Mangwana
 |
| Cde Nick Mangwana is the Chairman of ZANU PF UK |
One of the greatest speeches of our time was made by
President Mugabe in 1980 on the eve of our first Independence Celebrations,
then as the incoming Prime Minister of a new Zimbabwe. It was statesman’s
speech. A speech which he himself quoted extensively during the Zanu PF 6th National People’s Congress.
In that speech President Mugabe said that those who hated
each other yesterday should embrace each other with love. He said that it is
folly to revive wounds and grievances of the past and not to forgive past
wrongs as people embark in nation building. He did not advocate for the burying of the past but said
that the past should only be used to provide a lesson rather than justification
for revenge. He used the terms “national interest” and “national unity”
extensively.
Now let us set the context for all this; this was some weeks
after the Lancaster House agreement and a ceasefire that was violated over and
over again by the Rhodesians. Those who were around during this periods would
remember how many of our heroes were killed during the so-called ceasefire.
These are people who had survived the war but were slaughtered by the so-called
peacemakers. This was just 4 years after
the massacres at Nyadzonia and Chimoio where thousands innocents were moored
down by the murderous Rhodesian military machine.
A mere 6 years after President Mugabe had been
released from more than 10 years of incarceration during which he missed the
funeral of his then only child. A time in which the natural thing would have
been to be bitter and vindictive. But
not so with President Mugabe, his personal feelings and hurt had to play second
fiddle to the common good. And the common good was nation building and
magnanimity in victory. National interests a had to take precedence over
personal sentiment. This is what made
him an extra-ordinary human being. This was the first time this had ever been
done in post conflict colonial Africa. Even President Mandela only preached
reconciliation after taking a his cue from this extra ordinary act of graciousness.
Let us fast forward 34 years later when Zanu PF went through
an internal “tsunami”. It cleansed itself and in true form of a revolutionary
party, made some revolutionary decisions. It got rid of some chairmen and
members of its leadership who had lost their way when it mattered most. Some of
the acts for which they were purged were
quite treacherous, abominable and quite abhorrent really. The party has shown its fine mettle, cleansed
itself and re-aligned itself back to its socialist and Pan-Africanist
ideology. Those of us who always wanted
certain people to be at the helm celebrate the culmination of that dream, but
we don’t engage in triumphalism. We also wish some of our cdes would also not
engage in vindictiveness and spite as well.
There is no glory in hitting a
person when they are down. One might even lose support of the neutrals for
doing same. In our triumph we will be better people if we put aside our
antagonism and ingrain in ourselves a spirit of graciousness.
If we fail to learn from the father of reconciliations;
President Mugabe, at least let us learn from the magnanimity shown by his prodigious
student, Vice President Emerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa. The reader is challenged to come up with a
quote where the Vice President has engaged in triumphalism. He has been
gracious in victory throughout and a consummate diplomat towards his perceived
vanquished comrade and rival. "Perceived" because he has always
denied that he harboured any ill-will towards her. He has uttered no disparaging remark, no
controversial statement, no pregnant slogan. Just the trademark Pasi nemhanduuuuuu. It is on this
platform that we can continue to build our party and country. Not on permanent
spite, hurt, hate and bitterness. These sentiments do not take courage for they
are primate in nature. It is a sensitivity and magnanimity that require our
higher senses. Where there are issues of
criminal justice in nature, we are a better people if we let the law take its
course.
Of course unity and peace comes with a price. Should these
lost comrades decide to form another party or join forces with those that unleashed
suffering on our country though calling for sanctions then by all means we can
vent all our potent venom on them. For from that moment they would have ceased
to be Zanu PF and therefore deserve our fire and brimstone. We may even add a
dose of burning sulphur to the cocktail. But not when they are still saying
they are children of the revolution. We
should embrace them with vigilance of course. Lest we are given a Judas kiss.
If there was someone who had the right to be bitter, it is
Vice President Mnangagwa who was deprived of at least 10 years of vice
presidency. But he is not. Not only that, there are reported efforts and
schemes out there to prematurely terminate his life. But he continues to take
it in his stride. He does not dwell on the negative focussing on bringing
people together and delivery of positive outcomes for the country. Both the
President and the vice have chosen to be the bigger persons. They surely expect
us to follow suit. Why would the
President ask us to repeat, " Peace begins with me...... Love begins with
me, ..........unity begins with me, begins with you, begins with all of
us," if he did not mean it?
At the 6th People’s Congress there were empty
seats for Cdes Joice Mujuru and Dydmus Mutasa. This is despite of accusations of
attempts to assassinate him. Not only were seats reserved for these two comrades,
they were even on the programme! This is the pinnacle of rising above
adversity. Should we learn from the most
powerful people in our country we would be a better nation and avoid
unnecessary conflict.
In 1980 the
President said we should turn our swords into ploughshares. Those words are apt
this very time.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Visit the ZANU PF UK Official Website
No comments:
Post a Comment