The past Zimbabwe's past has been a chronicle of power struggle, punctuated by trickery and manipulation to gain rights to power and resources. From the early times there were running battles between the various chieftainships. Each one, always like cocks in a pen, trying to assert control and increase territorial influence. Still this did not stop this land of our ancestry from global trade, cultural dynamism and architectural prowess. The Munhumutapa empire showed that we are a people capable of greatness and staking our claim of nationhood amid other civilizations. Then the Mfec`ane came. This saw a new group of people pushing up from the South with then a superior war strategy and searching for national space. This introduced a new power matrix to the nation and forever changed the hue of our national tapestry. Then came inter-marriages, lotting and blood mixes. Pure blood is always a matter of opinion. No one person in this nation looking far enough can claim not to have relatives, friends or colleagues from other tribal groupings. It stands to reason now that with the national dough thus mixed, to stand and stake claim on a politics based on tribal affiliation is a lost cause when we should now be blowing the trumpet of national unity and greatness. Nations that fuel tribalism, division and do not uphold a united nationhood behave like toddlers fighting over toys when there are real challenges, great and real work ahead. There is a race for greatness among the nations. Clawing each other and hoping that the world will stop moving ahead and come and watch and be entertained is self deception that is costly to posterity. Leaders that do not price time, see reality and are self serving are dangerous regardless of their political platitudes. Normal is always followed by a new normal when things change. With the new 19th Century order set and established, again from the South, a man powered by a grandiose vision set his eyes on our land. He had vision, resources, guns and trickery. The great python, Cecil Rhodes, set about seducing the local leadership and when within easy grasp, he unleashed his trickery through his proxies and got an illiterate signature to sign away national rights to resources using a foreign law and international legitimacy that was questionable. Trickery and manipulation were used as an anaesthetic to extract the prized signature in the Rudd concession of 30 October 1888 from King Lobengula. Signatures will always be signatures until one starts taking action. Rhodes, the visionary entrepreneur wasted no time as he now had legal currency to obtain a Royal charter for his company to acquire our national space for the crown. Ruthless action was then unleashed by the new regime to establish full control of the nation. So Rhodesia was born, surnamed after its visionary in 1895. It is this DNA of vision and entrepreneurship that we must not lose. The desire for national space and pride that must continue to animate us. From our various forbears on all the dimensions of our national canvass it was always there. So was the streak of assertiveness. For Mzilikazi, it was his vision that led him across the Limpopo. For Rhodes, it was his vision that lead him, using his own business resources, to want Zimbabwe for himself. Great Zimbabwe still stands as a monument to what people inspired by great dreams can build. So somewhere in the Zimbabwean genetics there is this strain of enterprise, struggle, vision, assertion, rebelling against the status quo and going beyond limits that we must never losing. A spirit of the Entreprenuer is embedded in our national psyche. For an Entreprenuer there is always a way and a will to then take action to make a dream happen. Plans are nothing without determined and resolute action. Chimurenga People will always desire their space and the human spirit cannot be caged forever. The first Chimurenga sought to tear away at the new chains that had been imposed on the masses. With scant weaponry against the military and institutional arsenals set against our people our forbears could not prevail. It needed another generation to bring a new revolution. Then another to start yet another revolution. Once a revolution is past, it takes massive vision to now journey forward to new heights of greatness. Then 18 April 1980 came...the Union Jack was lowered and the new Zimbabwe flag was hoisted. Bob Marley animated the crowds with his revolutionary reggae vibes and it was a dream come true. Unbelievable. Finally we had what we had fought for. It was time to put behind the hatred, prejudice and bullets of the past. It was time to build Zimbabwe. It was hope all around and the new nation had promise. Fear and faith were alive then. Out of fear others fled Zimbabwe to find refuge in South Africa and elsewhere. Out of faith many returned from the diaspora with a desire to build Zimbabwe into a great nation with pride, progress and a playing field that would make our children proud to serve their nation. The smell of freedom is sweet. It is just that with freedom comes responsibility. Freedom by its nature can be harder than bondage. Bondage spoils and maims the mind and hearts and teaches timidity and dependence. Freedom challenges the mind and demands real work and responsibility. We were free, a new nation. The greatest freedom being the freedom to dream and become whatever we envision. The future Today we celebrate 33 years of independence. Where is the hope of 1980? Where is the jubilation? What happened to the promise? Questions abound and we are all tempted to blame this and the other force. Whoever is blame worthy does not matter. What matters most is who is ready and prepared to take responsibility. Anytime you blame anyone for your miseries you assume the posture of a victim. Victims want pity - and pity is not a raw material of greatness. Until we own up we will never rise. May this independence celebration take on a new meaning for you. It`s time to personally take responsibility for improving the national space you occupy. No one will make us a great people but ourselves. We cannot play catch up in the race of nations because catch up is a losing strategy because no one is standing still. We have to start rethinking our education and priorities. Education without vision and relevance makes us churn out educated derelicts. We have to start being producers at every level. We cannot tolerate laziness in all its forms and guises. We cannot wait for employment to be created and imported when we idle by waiting for things to change by themselves. We cannot hope to be harvesters when we sowed nothing. We have to start championing integrity, enterprise and patriotism. Leaders are there to create good and productive space for their people. Abuse of national resources should not be tolerated. We have to start arousing a new spirit of nationhood. Let's stand as brothers building our great nation. Differing on a matter of opinion does not make us enemies, it just broadens debate. What is the Zimbabwe that we want? Unless we have a shared vision of greatness, we will always exist to be a nation that is pawned and stand in the shadow of other nations and greatness will elude us. What is your prayer for Zimbabwe? What does independence mean to you? To Zimbabwe's greatness. I would appreciate connecting with you on twitter. My twitter handle is @MiltonKamwendo Milton Kamwendo. | 
