As Zimbabwe marks Heroes Day, the Action Democratic Movement asks a question that demands an honest answer: does the country we have today reflect the Zimbabwe our liberation heroes died believing was possible?
By Alice Nyamande
Heroes Day should be a day of pride, remembrance and national reflection. It should be a moment when Zimbabweans come together to honour those who gave their lives for the freedom, dignity and future of this nation — men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice believing that those who came after them would inherit something worthy of that cost.
But this Heroes Day, our hearts are heavy.
As we look at Zimbabwe today, we must ask ourselves honestly and without flinching: what has become of the country that so many gave everything to liberate?
We remember the sons and daughters of Zimbabwe who fought for independence. We remember the men and women who never lived to see the Zimbabwe they dreamed of. We remember our liberation heroes and the depth of their sacrifices — sacrifices made in the belief that future generations would inherit a free, prosperous and democratic nation. That belief sustained them through unimaginable hardship. It is the least we owe them to ask whether we have honoured it.
Yet decades later, many Zimbabweans are struggling to find hope.
Our nation has witnessed the deaths of prominent military and national figures. It has witnessed political violence, enforced disappearances, repression and the loss of innocent lives. The events surrounding the killing of protesters in August 2018 remain a painful and unresolved chapter in our national history — a reminder that the relationship between citizens and those entrusted with protecting them must never be taken for granted, and must never be allowed to collapse into fear.
The defence and security institutions of Zimbabwe were established to protect the nation and its people. The citizen should never become the enemy.
When ordinary Zimbabweans are afraid of those who carry the responsibility to protect them, something fundamental has gone deeply wrong. Our soldiers, police officers and security personnel are Zimbabweans too. They come from our communities. They have families, parents, siblings and children who depend on them and look up to them. Their duty must therefore be to defend the Constitution, protect the people and preserve the sovereignty of Zimbabwe — not to become instruments of political interest or tools of fear directed at the very citizens they were sworn to serve.
Heroes Day must therefore be more than speeches, parades and carefully managed ceremonies. It must be a moment of genuine national conscience — uncomfortable, honest and necessary.
We must ask whether the Zimbabwe we have today reflects the aspirations of those who sacrificed for independence. Are our young people finding meaningful opportunities? Are our hospitals functioning as they should? Are our children receiving the quality of education they deserve? Can ordinary citizens afford a decent and dignified life? Are our institutions genuinely accountable to the people they serve? Are citizens free to express political opinions without fear of consequences?
These are not opposition questions. They are Zimbabwean questions — and every Zimbabwean, regardless of political affiliation, deserves honest answers to them.
The Action Democratic Movement believes that the greatest honour we can give our heroes is not merely to praise them once a year at a well-attended ceremony. It is to build the Zimbabwe they died believing was possible. A true tribute is not a wreath laid at a monument. It is a country where the Constitution is respected without exception, where institutions serve citizens rather than protecting those in power, where elections are credible and their outcomes accepted, where the rule of law applies equally to everyone regardless of wealth or connection, where young people have real opportunities, and where no Zimbabwean is treated as lesser because of their political beliefs.
We must also have the courage to remember all victims of political violence — regardless of when or where they died, and regardless of their political affiliation. Our history must not be selective. A nation that honours only the victims it finds convenient has not truly confronted its past. It has simply rearranged it.
A nation cannot heal by forgetting its painful chapters. It heals by confronting them honestly, by learning from them with humility, and by building institutions strong enough to ensure they are never repeated. Selective memory is not healing. It is postponement — and what is postponed has a way of returning with greater force.
This Heroes Day, I speak not with anger but with a genuinely heavy heart. Zimbabweans are tired. Zimbabweans are hurting. Zimbabweans want their country back — not a version of it managed for the comfort of those in power, but the real thing: a nation where government exists to serve the people, where security means protection rather than intimidation, and where the sacrifices of our heroes translate into freedom, dignity and opportunity for every single citizen, in every corner of this country.
Let us honour the dead by protecting the living.
Let us honour our heroes not with ceremonies alone, but by defending the very freedoms they sacrificed to secure.
And let us commit, on this day above all others, to building a Zimbabwe where future generations will not have to ask why the dreams of our heroes were quietly abandoned by those who inherited their legacy.
Our heroes gave their lives for Zimbabwe.
The very least we can do is give Zimbabwe a future worthy of their sacrifice.
Alice Nyamande President, Action Democratic Movement
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