Drawing Matabeleland battle lines means doing our fallen heroes and heroines (grandparents, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons, daughters and the unborn babies mercilessly butchered) proud; we shall not to allow the Zimbabwean state dominion over Matabeleland and not watch a repeat of the horrors of the Gukurahundi inhuman acts of undeterred violence.
Real change will only come when we start actively standing up for ourselves and against all discrimination. This is the time to stop apologising for our aggressors and start standing for the rights of Matabeleland. Strength is not drawn from winning but from surviving the struggles and challenging adversity.
We concede yesterday is gone but, we retain the courage to carry on; we will not surrender our being! We may have fallen behind but this is no time to give up, it is a moment to accelerate; we will march forward and build a strong Matabeleland base from which will spring back to life a glorious nation. The focus is to empower ourselves without attempting to change ZANU PF; changing ZANU PF or any other Zimbabwe focussed organisation is not our remit.
The Southern Powerhouse (pro-Matabeleland agenda) objective is not to prove anyone daft but to represent the interests of Matabeleland and all who have made it home. We are a multi-ethnic, multi-racial, multi-cultural society; we want to retain that status of being a haven for socio-political diversity. What our opponents stand for is their business, but it will only last if there are people who stand for it.
ZANU PF is a tribal supremacist whose political legitimacy in a diverse Matabeleland is contentious to say the least. However, we seek not to convince our opponents that we are right; we respect their right to hold their views but we have the conviction and confidence in our own political ideas that they are relevant and that these will outlive all others; the older generation and their redundant ideas will die a natural death leaving space that only we will occupy.
Our focus is ensuring Matabeleland comes first; political views that are responsible for our current situation will be made redundant in a progressive Mthwakazi that will shrink ZANU PF and MDC-T influence in our lands. Our political platforms need to be about us first; one does not rise by pulling others down but by climbing up.
The first victory will be against ourselves. Let us stop normalising tribal slurs and pandering to tribalists; perceptions of superiority over other nations are not the right building blocks. We resent tribalism because it is wrong not only because we are the victims of it. Matabeleland is a diverse society, that is what it should be. We are special not because someone else is less so; like every other nation, we are special because we are just that.
Yes, we will keep our feet on the ground but we will not accept to be average, our desire for socio-political control will soar up high; ZANU PF/ MDC-T will neither determine nor dictate how high we can rise; we have the control over that and we are determined to act in dignity, in our own terms, till we achieve our goals.
If the only option of avoiding conflict with ZANU PF and its associates is surrendering our rights, we will happily pass that chance. We appreciate that the price for freedom and liberty is high, we have no qualms paying it. If we cannot have control over decisions that affect our lives that politics cannot be allowed free reign over us, we will resist it.
Matabeleland nationals have the right to expect peaceful existence within the Zimbabwean state; if Zimbabwean politics denies that privilege to us, we will seek to eliminate that politics from our mountains, plains and valleys.
It would be profoundly satisfying for our generation to be remembered by future generations as the generation that picked up rifles, stood up to tribal tyranny, restored Matabeleland freedom and liberty. We want a society whose loyalties transcend tribe, race, class, religion, etc. We will not surrender to tribalism; we shall protect diversity and shall not be controlled by ZANU PF and the MDC-T tribal interests.
MTHWAKAZI INDEPENDENT 