Independence celebrations to rotate among provinces from now on- Mnangagwa

Zimbabwe’s independence celebrations will from this year rotate among the country’s 10 provinces so that the whole nation identifies with the celebrations in equal measure, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said today.

Writing in his weekly column in the Sunday Mail, Mnangagwa said this will be more than a mere hosting responsibility; it will be an opportunity for the national leadership to concentrate its focus on specific and peculiar needs of each region when it hosts the national event.

“In future, the host region must arrange for a week-long conference preceding the anniversary, and during which the focus will be on it exclusively. This neatly dovetails with our broader, constitutionally mandated policy of devolution by which powers of, and decisions on, governance and development cascades down to regions,” he said.

This year’s celebrations, in two weeks, will be held in Bulawayo, the country’s second largest city.

“This is much more than a mere change of venue and geography. It is a profound statement on collective ownership of the day. We all share it as Zimbabweans, regardless of village, town, city, district or province,” the President said.

“Indeed that day unites us all as one people, whatever our colour, creed, tribe, sub-culture, language, age or gender. For that reason no one place or city monopolises its commemoration.”

Full write up:

SLIGHTLY over two weeks from today, Zimbabweans will celebrate 42 years of our National Independence. It is the day marking our re-birth from foreign rule after nearly a century as an occupied people. This day did not come cheap. Rather, it came from a bitter struggle and supreme sacrifices by Zimbabwe’s sons and daughters. Their heroism should never be forgotten or allowed to fade from our collective memory. The day thus must be revered by all of us, whether here at home or abroad. It is a day that unites us across time and space, and inter-generationally.

Our 42nd Year of Independence is set to be marked with a difference. For two consecutive years, we could not mark this hallowed day because of the global Covid-19 pandemic. Today we can, and thus should compensate for the years we lost by doubling its importance and significance.

For the first time in the history of our 42 years of Independence, we mark this sacred day away from Harare, our capital city. The commemorative festivities will be held in Bulawayo, our second largest capital. This is much more than a mere change of venue and geography. It is a profound statement on collective ownership of the day. We all share it as Zimbabweans, regardless of village, town, city, district or province. Indeed that day unites us all as one people, whatever our colour, creed, tribe, sub-culture, language, age or gender. For that reason no one place or city monopolises its commemoration.

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