The government recent statutory gesture of giving motor vehicles to traditional leaders have received negative publicity. The opposition and the so-called independent media have been at the forefront of painting this gesture in negative colours. I wish to highlight the source of the negativity.
History and Traditional Leaders
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| Is it about the Chiefs' motor vehicles only? |
Traditional leadership was the first African institution to be attacked by the colonialist. Traditional leaders like Kaguvi, Nehanda and Chingaira were killed in order to pave way for the colonial rule.
The direct attack on these institutions was to weaken the indigenous belief in their traditions and leadership. The attack on the Chiefs and spirit mediums was to destroy the original systems of belief and governance and the fabric that made up the pre-colonial Zimbabwe.
The likes of Chingaira and other chiefs rebelled against the colonial settlers because the fabric of their society, religion, land and traditions were under external threats.
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| It is the crushing the African spirit |
External Threats
The threats to our nations today is not internal it is external, sponsored by the very people who colonised Zimbabwe. The threats of our time are the sanctions, where proceeds of international trade of Zimbabwean companies are being ceased by the Office of Foreign Asset Control of the USA.
The threats are in the form of cutting lines of credit from international financial institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
The threats are the continual barrage of misinformation from the white supremacists' media propaganda from the likes of Voice of America, British Broadcasting Corporation and local sponsored tabloids.
The recent outcry from the media on the provision of motor vehicles to the Chiefs in these media is a knee-jerk response by the external sponsored opposition. The opposition is parroting the colonial narrative and degrading the institutions of our Chiefs.
Uprising Reloaded
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| It is an invasion of African space |
The opposition is not only attacking the Chiefs, but they are also attacking all our traditional institutions. The attack is also aimed at the rural voters. This rhetoric has in the past caused the opposition to lose the rural votes.
The rural voters will not take the attack on their traditional leaders lightly. They will remember the opposition in the voting booth.
It will be another Chimurenga. It will be another uprise against the people who have no respect for their traditional institutes and culture.
The Ceremonial Role and Thought Leadership of Chiefs
Chiefs are not only ceremonial heads of the rural space, but they are thought leaders as well. The Chiefs just like the Queen of England has a lot of political and economic say over the welfare of their subject.
Chiefs are alpha and omega in all traditional rites, from the birth to death the rural person life has milestones that are tied to the chieftainship of the place of his existence.
It is this spiritual hold on the rural population that chiefs that the white supremacists led opposition are afraid of. The hostility was echoed at rallies by Morgan Tsvangirai in the 2013 elections campaign where he threatened to "deal" with Chiefs who supported ZANU Pf. It was a stupid thing to say at a rally, and as a result, he lost those elections.
The Land Issue and Traditional Leaders
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| It is about land ownership |
Traditional leadership stance on the land reform program is another reason why Chiefs are receiving a lot of flack from the pro-white supremacists' settlers media.
The land is held in trust by Chiefs on behalf of the community. Land which was reclaimed from the Settlers is now directly or indirectly controlled by the Chiefs. It is this very act that the white settlers and their sponsored supporters are not happy with.
Respect the Chiefs
The cry in the opposition camp about the Chiefs' motor vehicles is all about people who are undermining our Chiefs authority and dignity. The cry is from people who have no respect for our culture and traditions.
I am begging all citizens of Zimbabwe to respect the civic and traditional role of the Chiefs. It is our civic duty!!
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