Heroism should be earned, not bestowed

18 August 2009

The concept of heroism is as old as humanity itself. Throughout the history of the human race, particular men and women have distinguished themselves in fields of endeavour such as sport, art, politics, business etc.

These distinguished members of the human race include, such luminaries as Joshua Nkomo, Nelson Mandela, Jesse Owens, Martin Luther King Jr, Mbuya Nehanda, Lobengula, Sekuru Kaguvi, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Thomas Mapfumo, Strive Masiyiwa, Warren Buffett and many others.

Thus, heroism cannot and indeed, should not be a straight-jacketed concept that is solely determined by the whims and fantasies of a small political grouping that nurses purely parochial and exclusionist nationalistic proclivities. Heroism should be celebrated as the ultimate human achievement cutting across all political, racial, ethnic and religious divides.

To be more succinct, heroism should be earned and not bestowed like an honorary degree.

Recent events in Zimbabwe have placed into focus the need to de-politicise the conferring of hero status on departed luminaries. By it's very nature, politics is a subjective and emotive subject. It is, therefore, impossible to obtain absolute political unanimity on any subject even within the same political party. Such is the nature of politics that some people refer to it as a dirty game. It is a game with no defined rules and regulations.

Since independence in 1980,the conferment of national and even provincial hero status in Zimbabwe has been the sole preserve of only one political party; ZANU(PF).Over the years, it has been established that one can never be declared a national hero if one is not in good books with ZANU(PF).

This is the reason why pioneering political luminaries such as James Chikerema, Ndabaningi Sithole, Chris Mandizvidza, Patrick Kombayi and Henry Hamadziripi are not interred at the National Heroes' Acre in Harare. According to the narrow, subjective and parochial criteria laid down by ZANU(PF),these distinguished political operators didn’t deserve to be considered as national heroes.

However, one doesn’t have to be a specialist history student to appreciate the fact that Ndabaningi Sithole and James Chikerema were locked up in the colonial prisons alongside Joshua Nkomo and Joseph Musikavanhu, when some of today's latter day heroes were pursuing purely private and personal agendas.

Every decent nation should and indeed, must honour its heroes and heroines. Heroism should never be packaged solely as the ultimate political achievement as dictated by the ethos and standards of one political grouping. Under such a criteria, heroism is inevitably bastardised and you end up having thoroughly discredited and
outrageous characters sneaking into the National and Provincial Heroes' Acres through the back door.

This is an insult to the memory of those, otherwise, exemplary men and women whose remains lie interred at the various national shrines. Furthermore, one doesn’t have to be a politician to be a hero. Zimbabwe’s Jairos Jiri, a great philathropist who pioneered proper care and education for disabled, dumb and deaf people, was and not a politician. Can any right-thinking Zimbabwean deny the fact that Jiri is a national hero and that he deserves a grand reburial at the National Heroes' Acre?

The formation of the inclusive government in February 2009 should necessarily give impetus to the need to completely overhaul the system of declaring national and provincial heroes in Zimbabwe. We should, going forward, begin to establish a new, dynamic, non-partisan and all-embracing concept of coming up with a list of our heroes and heroines. Political considerations should be completely exorcised from the conferment of hero status.

The Movement for Democratic Change led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has come out very clearly on what should be done when it comes to the conferment of hero status in Zimbabwe. The MDC advocates a non-partisan method of conferring hero status on departed deserving Zimbabweans. In this regard, therefore, the MDC envisages the establishment of a National Heroes Board or Commission that will be
mandated with the task of establishing who should be and who shouldn't be declared a national hero when they pass on.

I would further suggest that the new constitution should specifically provide for the establishment of a constitutional body called the National Heroes Commission. This body will then be responsible for all matters and issues relating to the conferment of national, provincial and district hero and heroine status. That way we would have managed to remove this very sensitive aspect of our lives from manipulation by politicians and political parties.

Infact, the proposed National Heroes' Commission should also go further and establish, going back to our pre-colonial history, who should be and who shouldn't have been declared a national hero. Should it become necessary, the remains of some undeserving characters would have to be removed from our sacred national shrine; the National Heroes' Acre in Harare. And those luminaries who were unjustifiably denied national hero status would be reburied at the national shrine if their families
consent with this arrangement.

For a start, why not name one of our major roads, Oliver Mtukudzi highway – in recognition of Mtukudzi’s contribution to the world of music? And why not rename the National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Jairos Jiri University of Science and Technology? We need to demonstrate our pride in the achievements of our great sons and daughters. That is how great nations are moulded.

Our heroes and heroines should be celebrated all the time. Once we successfully de-politicise the conferment of hero status, a lot of things will fall into place. All Zimbabweans will, once again, have a sense of pride and attachment to their heroes and heroines. Brand Zimbabwe can be the global talk sooner rather than later. But then, we should sort out our politics first.

*Senator Obert Gutu is the MDC Senator for Chisipite. He is a Lawyer, member of the MDC National Legal Committee as well as the MDC National Information Committee.