WE, in the village, continue to follow the Presidential Rallies, highly delighted that President Emmerson Mnangagwa has found time to visit and address us in the rural areas.
Deep in Matabeleland South’s Bulilima, President Mnangagwa was with the people and the people were with him.
The message from the south was loud and crystal clear: We are diverse but one.
Against all sorts of menaces, we have stood as one people. We have fought together.
We have defeated the enemy together as one people.
Every day, since time immemorial, our enemies have worked tirelessly for a divided Zimbabwe; they have sought every avenue to exploit and divide us but have failed.
And President Mnangagwa, in Bulilima, could not have said it any clearer when he reiterated that the country’s enemies did not succeed in the past and will not succeed now or in the future.
So touching and heart-warming was the sight in Bulilima, a people in unison.
The co-operation between the Kalanga, Ndebele, Sotho, Tswana, Venda and the Shona is so detailed and deeply meaningful yet the prophets of doom paint a picture of inherent deep-rooted antagonism between our people.
At the height of the First Chimurenga in Mashonaland, at the time the whites were targeting Paramount Chief Mashayamombe’s stronghold, the Chena Hill Fortress, Mkwati, the National Spirit Medium, came to Mashonaland from Matabeleland and took command of the First Chimurenga.
What is important to note is that Mkwati was not a Ndebele medium, he was a national spirit medium, that is why he was able to organise the First Chimurenga in both the land of the Matabele and that of the Shona.
And if the people of our country shared one national spirit medium — what does it mean?
Where does this notion that they are not one people, one nation, come from?
Where is the division?
Clearly it is a mischievous claim, a baseless one for that.
The story of our liberation struggles provides solid evidence of the oneness of the peoples of Zimbabwe.
During the liberation struggle, those nearest Mozambique, went to Mozambique and joined ZANLA, while those closest to Zambia crossed to Zambia and joined ZIPRA; these ardent patriots did not say let me go to Zambia to join a Ndebele party, nor did they say I will go to Mozambique to join a Shona party. Indeed, these heroic giants operated at a much more advanced level, way above tribalism.
This is the message that was delivered in Bulilima.
It was Zimbabwe African National Union, ZANU, not a tribal party but a National Union, for the liberation of Zimbabwe, not the liberation of a tribal region.
It was also the Zimbabwe African People’s Union ZAPU, a Union of the African people of Zimbabwe, not a regional organisation for the liberation of a tribal region.
And the amalgamation of the two parties to become ZANU PF was that continued realisation and knowledge that we are one people, no matter what.
Zimbabweans in the struggle, in both Mozambique and Zambia, were massacred in equal measure by the Rhodesian terrorists.
At Mkushi, Freedom Camp, Nyadzonia and Chimoio, among other camps, thousands of Zimbabweans were murdered for their land, for Zimbabwe.
In both Matabeleland and Mashonaland, our people were brutally assaulted and murdered for their land.
We do not talk of Ndebele blood being shed for the country, nor do we talk of Shona blood being shed for the country; we talk of the blood of Zimbabweans shed for this land.
It is no lie but a self-evident truth that ZANLA freedom fighters, ZIPRA freedom fighters mapped the land of Zimbabwe with their feet, liberating each square inch of this beautiful land with their sweat, blood and untold suffering.
And no-one will divide this unity of purpose, sacrifice and triumph!
The masses in the southern part of the country did not betray the struggle, neither did the masses in other parts of the country.
Our people have been faithful to Musikavanhu’s call to be true to our land.
Our enemies cannot divide us.
Bound by the love for our country, we are one; united in the fight against those who would divide us, we are one.
When we celebrate Unity Day, Independence Day and Umdala Wethu Dr Joshua Nkomo, we celebrate the essence of our nation, our oneness.
