Zimbabwe at 29: a nation in need of healing

THIS weekend, Zimbabwe celebrates her 29^th birthday rather sadly, as a mere shell of what it used to be; a shadow of what it could have been but for inept management.

But make no mistake about it, the day of independence remains a national occasion. It is a national day, one that cannot and should not be privatised by individuals.

We may differ on the politics, the economics and many other indices but the day of the nation’s founding must not be denigrated. It is to that day to which we must return to recover the values and aspirations that have been eroded over the last 29 years.

It might seem odd to be in celebratory mood at a time when Zimbabwe is literally on its knees, begging from whoever cares to listen. Indeed, at the time of our independence, one of our great supporters, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, then President of Tanzania is said to have remarked to President Mugabe, “You have inherited a jewel. Keep it that way.”

To be sure, the liberated Zimbabwe was far developed than most of its neighbours, except South Africa. It was the envy of most of Africa. But looking at it now, it seems Mwalimu’s words went unheeded.

It is not too difficult to understand those who view the day of independence with scepticism. Indeed, one ironic circumstance is that in Ian Smith’s jails, President Mugabe and his comrades gained several academic degrees yet in present-day jails, even a petty thief is literally condemned to die a slow and painful death. Such is the gap in the way the colonial state and the post-independence state treats the weakest members of society.

Yet, to my mind, the failures of individuals should not be allowed to overshadow the sacrifices of the many men and women who gave life and limb to overcome colonialism. It was a fight that needed to be pursued given the circumstances of the time and they fought the good fight.

Indeed, it’s a shame that they had to fight at all and in the process cause more pain and suffering – the wounds of which have yet to heal. That their surviving comrades have trampled on their sacrifices is cause not to denigrate their efforts but to reflect on what needs to be done to fulfil their dreams.

In my view, perhaps the biggest shortcoming is that Zimbabwe has never gone through a process of what may be referred to as ‘national healing’. National healing defies easy definition; indeed, it is one of those phrases that are used so often on the assumption that everyone knows what it means but upon asking, no one can actually give a coherent answer! It could mean so many things to so many people. I suspect there are many doctoral theses on the subject!

To my mind, however, it symbolises a process, not a single event. At independence, politicians gathered at Lancaster House in London, made a political deal which they called the Constitution and exchanged seats, with the new replacing the old and no more.

Although there was a lot of rhetoric about reconciliation, it never quite translated into practice. There was nothing concrete done to heal the wounds of the past. Too many things were swept under the Lancaster carpet.

Our politicians got back home and locked skeletons in the cupboard hoping that no-one would discover them. In doing so, a bad precedent was created. Over the years, more and more skeletons have been added into more and more cupboards. That’s because perpetrators have long known that there is no accountability for wrongful actions or omissions. They have the mentality of the jungle creature which survives simply because it is the fittest and can trample upon the weakest, with no reason whatsoever to account for its actions. Not surprisingly, over the years, the house of stones has become a house of skeletons.

It is for this reason that the new inclusive administration needs to seriously begin a process of national healing. How shall that be done? National healing has to begin with the acknowledgement and acceptance that there exists what may be termed a ‘national wound’. This symbolises the wrongful acts (or omissions) that have been committed against individuals and communities over the years.

There has to be a process of identifying this national wound – these wrongful things that have happened in the past. Some are obvious and well-known such as the Matabeleland atrocities, others less so and perhaps forgotten such as what happened during the colonial era and the war years.

This, therefore, raises the question of time-frames. At what point do you begin to identify these wrongful acts? To my mind, this identification process has to be extensive and comprehensive. It is not for me to set a time-frame but it is plain that some of the problems that we have faced more recently, around the land question for example, are manifestations of these attempts to redress what are considered to be wrongs of the colonial era. Clearly the government has for the past decade been guided by this memory of the wrongful acts committed during colonialism.

Lancaster did little to address this matter. Instead it sought to maintain the status quo, which was always going to be unsustainable in the long run. The result has been disastrous, given the farm seizures that took place in the last decade to the detriment of agricultural production. Yet what has happened has also opened new wounds, upon those whose property was forcibly taken this time around. This too, is a wound that will not go away. It has to be attended to.

The liberation struggle of the 1970s was a valiant effort but it also brought untold suffering among the people. Lives were lost and limbs were broken on either side. But these wounds were not dealt with at independence and they have continued to fester over the years.

Indeed, the atrocities committed against the people of Matabeleland opened up a great wound upon the body of the nation. The memory of those atrocities will not simply evaporate with time. It is a deep wound on the national psyche and one that needs attention.

Likewise, the wrongful acts visited upon citizens under the guise of Operation Murambatsvina in 2005. Then there is the violence, the killings and torture, loss of property and various other wrongful acts committed against individuals, especially during election periods.

Independence is as much about freedom as it is about putting minds to rest. Zimbabwe is plagued by too many restless souls it’s not surprising that it continues to be mired in difficulty. The skeletons in the cupboard will continue knocking.

I hope there will come a day when it will be universally recognised that each one of us, that each tribe and race, despite our differences and difficult past, has played a part in building Zimbabwe.

Each one of us, black or white has left an imprint on the body of the nation. It is not because we choose to be Zimbabwean; it is because we are Zimbabwean and can never be anything else however much we travel the world and find new homes.

Many will testify, black or white, that however beautiful the grass appears elsewhere, there is only one place we call home. It is the place that carries our umbilical cords. It is the place to which we were joined at birth.

Alex Magaisa is based at, Kent Law School, the University of Kent and can be contacted at wamagaisa@yahoo.co.uk