As Zimbabwe marks 45 years of freedom from colonial rule this 12 months, a number of Zimbabweans are debating whether or not the nationwide vacation remains to be value celebrating.
This 12 months, Independence Day falls on Good Friday, a uncommon overlap that’s prompting much more reflection. Whereas the nation formally commemorates its break from colonial rule on 18 April annually, many Zimbabweans are quietly asking: what’s being celebrated?
Zimbabwe celebrates Independence Day
Because the nation celebrates Independence Day, President Emmerson Mnangagwa hosted a Youngsters’s Get together at Nyamuroro Excessive College in Gokwe North District, Midlands Province. The primary commemorations occurred on 18 April in the identical district.
The 2025 celebrations are operating below the theme: “Zim@45: Devolve and Develop Collectively In direction of Imaginative and prescient 2030.”
“This can be a day of nationwide pleasure. Residents ought to participate and hearken to the President’s message as we mark 45 years of independence and self-determination,” mentioned the Bulawayo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Everlasting Secretaryadded Mr Nyoni, as reported by The Chronicle.
Embracing Easter Holidays
This 12 months, some Zimbabweans are selecting to lean into the non secular significance of the Easter weekend as a substitute of nationwide celebrations. Church buildings throughout the nation are celebrating Easter, whereas nationwide flags dangle low.
Social media can also be telling, whereas a couple of posts mark the nation’s forty fifth birthday, many extra are sharing Good Friday messages, Bible verses, and Easter needs. For them, Easter gives one thing Independence Day not does: hope, therapeutic, and a motive to imagine in a greater tomorrow.
The previous Residents Coalition for Change chief, Nelson Chamisa, posted on his X: “GO HAPPY, BE BLESSED…Wishing you a blessed Good Friday and a joyful Easter! Could the sacrifice and love of Christ deliver eternal hope and happiness to you all. Jesus Christ is Lord and Saviour…”
Right here is how others reacted on social media:
@mlobiwazo20: “As of late, I’d quite simply deal with Easter as a result of it brings extra peace and which means.”
@KelvinP46686737: “…in the meanwhile we’re going to have a good time Easter vacation and in addition praying for our nation Zimbabwe. As lengthy we’re below ZANU PF we don’t have a good time independence, cz we don’t have freedom.”
@IreneTariroWyn: “45 years after independence Zimbabwe has regressed a lot that there’s nothing to have a good time a minimum of if we’re celebrating potholes as a result of now we are able to take a shower in the course of the highway.”
@nickmangwana: “Marching collectively, marching ahead. Zimbabwe’s Independence Day parade is a celebration of our nation’s freedom, unity, and cultural heritage.”
Do you suppose celebrating Zimbabwe’s Independence Day remains to be related?
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