Exactly who is a hero
August 15th, 2011
I have spent the last weekend thinking about the gallant sons who died fighting to end dictatorship. I thought about the likes of Joshua Nkomo and Josiah Tongogara and said to myself, such were heroes.
They have departed and left behind comrades whose heroism is fast diminishing, because of their deeds to fellow countrymen. Indeed President Robert Mugabe is a hero for some and a villain for others. He delivered Zimbabwe from colonial rule along with Nkomo; alas we have independence but we do not have the freedom that is meant to come with it.
A hero Mugabe was, but now a zero.
Mugabe and his Zanu PF stole the elections in 2000. In 2005, they destroyed our homes. In 2008 they once again killed, maimed and tortured, just as they did in the 1980’s.
Heroes are not murderers.
To me, as I write, the true hero is my mother whose home was destroyed in 2005. Undeterred, she rose from the debris and dust and walked tall. Today she lives modestly having been able to send me to school through her work as a vendor.
A hero to me is a man or woman who has been able to live without electricity and water, a young man in Plumtree whose future has been destroyed because the government could not provide education, but still manages to look after his family having crossed the border to South Africa.
Heroes are not declared by political parties, but rather by us, the people. We have our heroes and we know them best.
