Zanu-PF has hijacked Zimbabwe's independence day

April 18th is a day set aside for Zimbabweans to commemorate their liberation from the callous colonial regime after a long-drawn struggle that cost many lives.

It should be a time when both young and old reflect on the sacrifices of thousands of Zimbabweans, some of whom did not live to see the dawn of that day in 1980, when the black majority officially defeated and replaced the white minority.

Back then, the day was marked with befitting pomp and ceremony, with everyone who chose to celebrate, participating willingly in the hope that this was a new era.

Sadly, that spirit was short-lived and has waned over the years with disenchanted Zimbabweans across the country narrating ordeals of continuous harassment, intimidation and dispossession at the hands of liberation war movement Zanu-PF.

Recent events –where arrests and torture of innocent citizens whose only crime is their failure to express rabid support for Zanu-PF ' have raised questions about the real meaning of Zimbabwe's Independence, with many convinced that we simply replaced one cruel regime with an equally callous one.

Speaking to SW Radio Africa, listeners told how they are being forced by Zanu-PF to fork out amounts ranging from $5-$11 as contributions towards the April 18th celebrations.

"We have been told that if we don't pay the money, we will be charged and sentenced to do community service by the chief," Pagiwa Sithole of Mbire Ward, Manicaland, told SW Radio Africa's listener-driven Callback programme.

"What we find disappointing is that most of us are not employed, and have no means of raising the $12 which we are being forced to pay. There was a drought this season and so we can't even sell anything to raise the money," Sithole added.

Before the land invasions and the chaotic redistribution exercise of 2000, resources for such events and celebrations would be taken care of by proceeds from the CAMPFIRE programme – an initiative aimed at the sustainable utilisation of the country's natural resources.

But these resources have been plundered and pillaged during the Mugabe-driven lawlessness of the past decade, meaning that rural communities now have the extra burden of paying for what others say has become a Zanu-PF project.

Another listener, going by the name of 'January' for fear of victimization, said: "Independence has lost its lustre. When we first celebrated, we thought it was a national event, but over the years, Zanu-PF has hijacked it to the extent that the event is punctuated by the chanting of the regime's slogans."

'January', of Mvurwi, also revealed that villagers have been told to contribute $5 towards the April 18th celebrations, which come amid revelations that some people in Ward 26 have been dispossessed of the plots of land they were given during the redistribution exercise.

"How then can we say we are truly independent when citizens are offered land and then dispossessed just because they belong to another party? We shouldn't even be paying for the Independence Day celebrations. Those freedom fighters waged the liberation struggle to reclaim that the country's resources from the white minority," 'January' said.

"The country has vast amounts of diamonds and that should raise enough revenue to pay for such national events, but because only a few are enjoying the fruits of Zimbabwe's independence, that is not the case," 'January' said.

Hlaselani Mangena, an exiled Zimbabwean in South Africa, said real Independence has eluded many of the country's youths, hence the massive exodus to South Africa where they have to grapple with xenophobia on a daily basis.

"I wouldn't be in South Africa if Zimbabwe was truly independent. People are still living in fear, they are suffering under oppression, older people are not being catered for by the government," Mangena said.

"Looking at the youth, especially those from the Matebeleland region, we might as well be living in 1970 because there have been no plans to empower them economically or even through the education system so what independence can we talk about," asked Mangena.

Mangena added that Zimbabweans should recognise that Zanu-PF had over the years strategically appropriated and monopolised the Independence narrative. He urged all Zimbabweans to reclaim April 18th by voting the regime out of power.