The ManicaPost
Freedom Mutanda
Correspondent
THIS week marks the demise of the founding President of Mozambique, Cde Samora Moises Machel.
Even though 35 years have passed since that last journey he made from a SADC meeting when his Tupolev plane crashed in the Eastern Transvaal, the man’s ideas still linger in the collective memory of the SADC Region and in Zimbabwe in particular.
Ideas never die. Cde Machel’s legacy is profound, and generations to come will forever remember him for his anti-imperialism crusade which resulted in his death at a relatively young age.
Portuguese incursion into Zimbabwe started in the early 16th century with the much talked about martyrdom of Father Goncalo Da Silveira, and they took over as a colony of what we now know as Mozambique, although historians contend that at one time the Mutapa State ran from the Indian Ocean to the Kalahari Desert.
His legacy lives on, and for the people of Zimbabwe, Cde Machel was a blessing for them since fighting the Rhodesian mean military machine without training camps would have been a Herculean task.
The late Cde Machel allowed the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) cadres to train in Mozambique, and according to Cde Joseph Khumalo, a war veteran, the late military commander and Mozambican Head of State always shot from the hip.
“He did not mince words. He said what had to be said even when it meant stepping on other people’s toes. He called a spade a spade,’’ he said in a ZBC TV interview recently.
Such kind of leaders enables their subordinates to speak out their mind.
At the Lancaster House Conference, some historians argue that Cde Machel worked behind the scenes to make sure that a ceasefire agreement was signed and the region could have peace, prosperity and progress.
One of his greatest quotes is clear testimony of how Cde Machel hated corruption and wished its eradication.
Cde Machel said: “Idleness leads to relaxation, sooner or later bringing about ideological and material corruption, accompanied by lack of discipline, anarchy, chaos and defeat.’’
In the Second Republic, the buzz word has been anti-corruption, and this has resulted in high profile arrests and prosecutions.
After the 1980 revolution which brought forth independence, relaxation sets in, and a dog-eat-dog phenomenon took centre stage with many leaders seeking to fleece companies and Government coffers.
Therefore, it is trite to state that the New Dispensation is not far off the mark in implementing Cde Samora’s idea of an Ideal Society where corruption is a thing of the past.
Cde Machel had the same thinking like Cde Thomas Sankara who had a dream of having upright men and women in the former Upper Volta which is now called Burkina Faso although later, he was betrayed by his comrade in arms.
Cde Machel was adamant that the State had to be organised in such a way that it served the interests of the people.
Over the past three years, infrastructure development has seen hitherto bad roads being transformed into highways, bridges being built, and irrigation schemes being resuscitated all over the country.
Consequently, employment creation has raised people’s livelihoods from the abyss.
For many ZANLA cadres, Cde Machel was a breath of fresh air as those in the eastern districts of Manicaland found a way of joining the liberation war, for the eastern front was opened after Mozambique obtained independence in 1975.
Despite suffering attacks from the Rhodesian Air Force and Special Forces, Cde Machel did not relent in his support for the nationalist cause as he believed in the mantra that a victory for his country against colonialism was hollow in the absence of independence for neighbouring countries.
Indeed, Mozambican losses can never be quantified, and Zimbabweans are indebted to Cde Machel who stood resolute in his support for Zimbabwe’s independence.
Finally, Cde Machel was a staunch supporter of unity.
His “unity and victory are synonymous’’ was taken on board by the Patriotic Front in 1979 at the Lancaster House Conference, and it is from this genesis of unity that notwithstanding the political upheavals of the early 1980s, Zimbabweans were able to forge a Unity Pact on December 22, 1987, and embark on the road to a peaceful Zimbabwe devoid of internecine conflicts.
Cde Machel would have turned 88 on September 29. 35 years ago, he was violently taken away from us and as a revolutionary, it is apt to say his legacy will never die as long as we enjoy our freedom.
Back in the olden days, Zimbabweans would call out: “abashachikonyoka’’ imitating Cde Machel.
Bellicosity is the vice that he was against, and he felt that the imperialists were bellicose, and did not want to see Africans take their place in the international community as free men and women.
It is sad that up this day, no conclusive determination on what caused Cde Machel and 33 others’ deaths when the plane he was in crashed inside South Africa at Mbuzini.
