Write your own history now

Vice-President Joice Mujuru today called on Zimbabweans to write the history of the country’s liberations struggle as the heroes that were involved in liberating the country are dying one by one. “I cry that this vital sentence which is and should be part of a national narrative is going to be buried away today: unread by those who live, unreadable to all those who follow. I am talking about Cde Chirenda’s great grandchildren who may never know or grasp the work he did in his lifetime. I am talking about my own great grandchildren who may never know or remember him. I am talking about your great grandchildren, dear comrade, who may never know your history, our history and thus their history as well….We have not written our story, we have great but mute heroes. We have not narrated our experiences even to this generation that lives. Much worse, our experiences are buried away with us, rendered eternally mute, when we die, one at a time we are all gone one day. Unless they spoke when they live, dead comrades don’t tell stories and our individual stories are a vital part of the story of our generation, of our people, our nation, our country. Who shall tell it? When? The veterans like Chirenda are going, are gone, who shall testify to his greatness? “While they tell us that history belongs to the victors, our own situation cedes victory to those who lost the war. Our history has no tellers. We need to change history by writing it. Let’s begin now so we shape a heritage for our children, for generations to come who deserve to inherit and get inspired by the great deeds of their forbearers,” she said.

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