Hero Status For Soul Jah Love Spark Tribalism Debate
President Emmerson Mnangagwa Thursday conferred a Liberation Hero status on Soul Jah Love thereby triggering a tribalism debate.
Soul Jah Love’s hero status comes after a fighter in the liberation struggle, Chief Vezi Maduna Mafu was denied the national hero status by the ZANU PF politburo.
The Politburo ignored a plea by ZANU PF officials in Matabeleland South province to accord the late traditional leader with the national hero status for his contribution to the struggle for black majority rule.
Responding to the conferment of the status on Soul Jah Love, Siphosami Malunga, the former Executive Director of the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) said:
Taking nothing away from Soul Jah Love who’s life story was as inspirational as his musical talents BUT how do you square not awarding Chief Maduna Hero status & the next week awarding Soul Jah Love? It’s clear @ZANUPF_Official does not care for Matabeleland & its people. Simple.
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Others however said the conferment of the status was political rather than tribal. MDC Alliance activist based in the United States, Freeman Chari said:
Not just Matabeleland people. Anyone who doesn’t lick them or give them mileage. Only a few months ago, Mukudzei Mudzi one of the stalwarts of the liberation struggle was shunned.
In the past, a number of prominent politicians were not accorded with the hero statuses to the amazement of the public who thought they deserved the statuses considering their contributions to the country either before and or after independence.
Some even argued that the status is a reserve for members of the ruling ZANU PF.
Zimbabwe has for long been divided by a number of political events including the massacres of the 1980s during which about 20 000 people in Matebeleland and Midlands provinces were killed by the North Korean-trained fifth brigade.
The country’s founding leaders, Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo tried to address the issue by signing the Unity Accord but it was not effective as some called for the establishment of a “truth and justice commission.”
The matter has been a sacred one until only recently when President Mnangagwa said the nation must freely talk about it. Still, the matter is still a sensitive one.
