The ManicaPost
Freedom Mutanda Post correspondent
Yesterday, Zimbabweans from all walks of life celebrated Unity Day and it is fitting that we cherish that forever more as it took two giants to hammer a pact that would last for generations. Therefore, let’s celebrate unity in diversity and look at ourselves as one in terms of oneness and love.
We are the people who can get this working again as we look at the future with optimism. Everyone has to play a part in fostering unity in Zimbabwe. Yesterday was a day for every Zimbabwean to say “we may speak different languages but we are one’’.
In Bible times, God saw the unity exhibited by humanity albeit on the wrong cause when the early people built Babel in an effort to go and reach the sky and presumably to see who God was and what he looked like. Thus, God created new languages which greatly caused confusion to the-would be rebels and the results are there for us to see.
Ethnocentrism and nationalism took centre stage and since then people began to love themselves so much that they are prepared to kill or be killed in fighting over which ethnic group must have power in any given country.
The Exodus of the Israelites was as a consequence of Pharaoh’s diabolic attempt to control the birth rate of the Israelites for them not to continue to grow in numbers until they took over the affairs of state in the land of the Nile.
It is my submission that unity does not cascade from the top to the bottom because some people do have some reservations about other ethnic groups from a young age and they carry their sentiments to their children and the animosity goes on and on as it is passed on from generation to generation.
Many years ago when I was at college, I presented some aspects of Ngugi’s “Petals of blood” to a group of English language students; after I was through with my presentation and on my way to the hostel, a young lady came to me and told me that I should speak English in her accent and not the Ndau one 1 used. I looked at her sternly and politely told her to leave me alone.
Over the following three years we drew close due to the fact I continued to respect her despite the fact that she spoke Shona in an accent different to mine. In fact, up to now, my friends and colleagues come from different parts of the country.
I refuse to accept ethnocentric stereotypes such as generalising that girls from this or that region are invariably loose and will not be in a marriage situation for long before they cheat or say men from that region are drunks and do not look after their families. Therein lay the notion of disunity that slowly colonise people’s minds until they are ready to die for their reg1ons.
In the case of our nation, we are Bantus and the language is a testimony of how we are related to a large extend. Last week, I came across a Nxumalo man who is Ndebele; in our interaction I intimated that I knew the Nxumalos in Chipinge who are descendants of King Soshangana, the Gaza supremo during Mfecane. Some Ndebeles looked at me blankly but he went on to say it is true that he has relatives in that part of the world but he may not be able to link the relationship.
As Zimbabweans, we are one and unity in diversity brings forth a nation. I am a Ngorima by descent but I use Mutanda which is a name of a brother to a reigning Chief who had an altercation with the elder brother and fled to Chipinge. I met a man from Masvingo whose great-great grandfather left Chimanimani many years ago; when I told him about myself, we are calling each other brother because chidawo chedu tinoti Ngorima mushava. Unity has to be the buzz word if ever we are going to develop as a nation.
We may talk about the bad things that happen in the past as a way of mapping a strong foundation for the future by not repeating the ugly things of what went before. Refreshingly, during the liberation war, young men and women did not think about the ethnic group a leader of a political party was before joining either ZIPRA or ZANLA. My two brothers actually joined ZIPRA and ZANLA respectively but their aim was to liberate Zimbabwe.
As a matter of fact, during the mass nationalism stage, there was no mention of where the leaders came from owing to the fact that people were interested in acquiring a one man one vote dispensation. Divide and rule tactics came into play much later and all of a sudden, people called each other names because of one’s ethnic origin and no one raised an eye brow when we saw our country being divided along language lines.
Thanks to the 2013 Zimbabwe Constitution, local languages are given prominence in education but that must not be a prelude to ethnic cleansing as people in a particular area would advocate for teachers who come from that area. It is my contention that Zimbabweans must be taught in two or three indigenous languages namely the local dialect, Shona and Ndebele. By so doing, no language is put on a pedestal at the expense of others.
A Ndebele or Shona person has to be comfortable anywhere in the country. Great Zimbabwe University is moving in to plug the gap by training teachers in these indigenous languages. By the same token, there should be no dialect that superimposes itself on anyone but the unity we can engender emanates from that ability to speak in many indigenous languages.
The media comes in handy in this regard. I remember Kwaedza had a sister paper in Ndebele. I learnt a few Ndebele words by reading the same story in Shona that would have been translated into Ndebele. I guess many people learnt one or two words out of that. The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation now gives us news in several indigenous languages; that is the way to go in cementing unity in diversity. However, their thrust should also include entertainment. Sports commentaries can also include the local languages and it gives the people a feeling of self worth. The bottom line is that the more people hear a language being spoken the more they appreciate it and leave that condescending attitude.
If the electronic media can offer lessons in diverse subjects such as Mathematics, English, Science etc, what stops them from teaching our indigenous languages to everyone in Zimbabwe? What may be of importance is to ensure that no language is looked down upon in the presentation. Hand in glove with the teaching of one more language at school, the media would ensure quick understanding of the other language. It is true that for that to happen, huge sums of money are required.
The end result will cover the costs. Unity enabled the United Kingdom to be where it is today although fissures may appear here and there. Language is the carrier of a culture; hence, when our people are multilingual, they have cohesion that is unbreakable. What we have are colonial boundaries. Cde Nyusi is the Mozambican President whose roots are close to Tanzania but I am told his name is synonymous with the bee that we call “ nyuchi” here. See how intertwined we are as Africans! Therefore, it is actually shooting ourselves in the foot when we engage in divisive talk because we speak a language that appears divorced from ours.
As we celebrate Unity Day, we should always know that we are one people and linguistic differences are just there to spice up life. When someone tells you not to employ that person because he comes from a part of the country you don’t like, tell him that you will look at her qualifications and aptitude rather than rely on bigotry based on ethnic background.
Cdes Mugabe and Nkomo could have signed the Unity Accord on 22 November 1987 as leaders but it is incumbent upon the grassroots to embrace unity in a world where Zimbabwe is regarded highly in terms of its literacy. In every aspect of life, all of us can do it. Doctors, teachers, farmers, lawyers, accountants and so forth, you find people from different ethnic backgrounds.
Why don’t we take a cue from sports where team mates are from different parts of the country? To them, it does not matter where you come from as long as you are good in that particular sport. Isn’t it inspirational? We had Radio lessons at primary school and I believe we can use these media to spread the message of unity without appearing to be patronising or brainwashing students. Already the Ministry of Education tries to infuse knowledge of other ethnic dances but I think, every year there should be many traditional dances from all over the country culminating in a grand finale.
Development partners can be roped in to fund these competitions.
Unity is the sine qua non of development. Let every person think of oneself as a
Zimbabwean first; subordinate your ethnic background to that of the national vision. Happy Unity Day!
