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new Zimbabwe. It was a journey they took on fearlessly because they knew that they were the architects of their own future.

Much as some people detest the fact that people fought and died for this country, just take yourself back to 1964 and imagine yourself as one of those nationalists that gathered in Gwelo, telling themselves that they could achieve that dream. How many were they? What was the theme? Where did they sleep during the duration of the congress? Why did they take such risks considering the brutality of the settler colonial regime?

Music legend Simon “Chopper” Chimbetu with his revolutionary hit songs, “Kure kachana” (Far and too distant) and “Hoko” (emblem), gives one the feel of what it means to embark on a journey into the future. I remember a few months ago when I travelled the journey with Chimbetu on this column and the revelation was awesome. In Kure kachana, Chimbetu sings: “Kwaive nerwendo; rwendo rwokufamba; Rwaitove rwendo . . .” (It was a long and arduous journey to get to the future and to make the future meaningful).  The future was Zimbabwe, and it will always be Zimbabwe. The Gwelo congress invokes bittersweet memories. You want to know who was there. You also want to know where they are now; what was discussed and whether it produced tangible results.  You also want to know how futuristic they were as they discussed issues about a sovereign Zimbabwe. Holding the congress in the middle of the 20th century, did they ever think about what it would be like in the 21st century?

Did they ever dream about a globalised world and all the things that we see now? Did they foresee the dangers of neo-colonialism, after the attainment of independence?  What was the discourse like regarding economic emancipation; women; young people and other vulnerable groups? Did some of them know that this country was so richly endowed in terms of mineral resources?

As a writer, it was unfortunate to find that some of the custodians of information, which you expect to have collections that answer these questions, do not actually have the information. But, here is a bit that I gathered about the 1964 Gwelo congress. The Southern African Press Association (Sapa) news agency reported on Sunday, May 25 1964: “The Rev N Sithole was unanimously re-elected leader of the Zimbabwe African National Union at the third and final session of the Zimbabwe African National Union at the party’s three-day congress here (in Gwelo) yesterday. Mr L Takawira is vice president, Mr R Mugabe, general-secretary; Mr E Nkala, treasurer, and Mr H Chitepo, national chairman. The only woman in the executive is Mrs Chakonda from Fort Victoria, who is responsible for women’s affairs.”

Contrary to some media reports, President Mugabe is not the only surviving member of that landmark congress. Cde Enos Nkala is still around.  Cde Victoria Chitepo spoke on ZTV last week and said that together with her departed husband Cde Chitepo who was working as Director of Public Prosecution in Tanganyika (Tanzania), they had to fly back to Southern Rhodesia for that congress.

This was in keeping with the promise that Cde Chitepo had made in May 1962: “I am only going to Tanganyika for the time being because they need me in circumstances where I can be of help.”
President Mugabe had just turned forty when he attended the Gwelo congress. What was it like for him? He has now led Zanu-PF for close to five decades but last week’s conference showed him as a prepared man; a preparing man and a man meditating on the legacy he is bestowing on the country.  He continues to give a careful and detailed narrative of the Zimbabwe they crafted as a united team; a Zimbabwe they are passing on to the tomorrow generation. The 1964 Gwelo congress also set the tone for the future — freedom from colonialism by all means, and these were not just mere pronouncements, but were actionable.

Two years after the Gwelo congress, the first shots for total political and economic freedom rang in Sinoia (Chinhoyi), resulting in the first seven freedom fighters perishing. They also met to strategise because all that they did was learnt through some bitter lessons. The reality was that freedom was not going to be handed to the people on a silver platter. I would also want to believe that in 1964, they made resolutions and they followed through these resolutions by way implementation.

They had scant resources, but they had one powerful weapon — their combined dreams and this inspired them to fight on. They were interested in the future because they were the architects of their own tomorrow, and, it would be a future they would carve out as they moved on.  Forty-eight years later, last week, it was back to Gweru, the land of the Lion of Chirumhanzi (Cde Leopold Takawira).

The bitter and protracted liberation struggle has taught Zanu-PF a few lessons not to mention the rough ride from Western sponsored political outfits like MDC formations, which saw Zanu-PF compromising itself on some of its revolutionary principles.

Gweru 2012, with its theme “Indigenise, empower, develop and create jobs” gave a sense of achievement on one hand, while on the other hand it speaks of so much that needs to be accomplished in order to have a successful future. It is a theme that makes one feel as though they are in constant motion. It was also a wake-up call for Zanu-PF, with a clear indication that when you are founded on solid and people-centred principles, it’s difficult to put you down and out.  In-fighting (factionalism), an aspect of any group can take place, but when there are some in your midst who understand the past, present and future, you remain focused. You have to also continually question the purpose of your existence, and ask how relevant you are now and in the future. Thus, Gweru 2012 was a rebirth of a grand old party that had to chart the way forward and also stamp its mark of authority.  It was a people’s national conference that had to prove that the fallacies held by some regarding southern Africa’s liberation movements remain that — fallacies.  There could be challenging issues, just as there were challenges since the birth of nationalism. Sometimes, it is as if all is lost.

You feel like Gwelo 1964 was for naught, but looking at a five-decade walk into the future, you tell yourself that 2012 in Gweru was yet another landmark occasion to craft the future, craft another forty-eight years. It was an occasion to tell each other that those grand resolutions have to be followed through in letter and spirit. Thus 2013 is the Year of Electoral Victory in as much as 1980 when the first democratic elections were held was the Year of the People’s Power — Gore Ramasimba Avanhu. This is the tall order arising from the 13th Zanu-PF National People’s Conference, a challenge they must deal with head on.  It’s also time that we look up to ourselves for solution’s that will take us out of impoverished lives. It’s time that we tell the world that if Africa does not interfere in the internal affairs of other sovereign states, why should it be a given that the so-called powerful nations believe that they have a sovereign right to interfere in Africa’s affairs?
This was the message from Gwelo in 1964, which was reiterated in Gweru in 2012.