Southern Africa: Viva Our Forebears, But Let the Baton Pass – Honoring History While Embracing the Future
In a powerful convergence of memory, legacy, and forward-looking resolve, the recent Southern African Liberation Movements meeting in South Africa served as a timely reminder of the sacrifices that birthed our nations.
Held against the backdrop of the visit by UNESCO’s Director-General to Zimbabwe, the gathering underscored a shared imperative: we must remember our history not only to honor it, but to learn from it, teach it, and ensure that future generations never forget the price of freedom.
The UNESCO DG’s visit highlighted the urgent need to record and preserve the often-untold narratives of the liberation struggles that dismantled colonial rule across Southern Africa. She rightly emphasized that these stories—imbued with courage, resilience, and sacrifice—must be mainstreamed into national education curricula. “History,” she noted, “is not a luxury. It is the foundation upon which identity, justice, and progress are built.” By embedding the struggles of the past into school syllabi, we ensure that the blood, sweat, and tears of our forebears are not reduced to footnotes, but are instead woven into the moral and civic fabric of every young African.
Indeed, the gallant freedom fighters—our liberators of yesteryear—deserve our eternal gratitude. They stood against tyranny, faced bullets and chains, and gave their tomorrows so that we might have today. Their legacy is not just in the independence we enjoy, but in the dignity with which we now walk. We owe them more than remembrance—we owe them relevance in the way we govern, teach, and lead.
Yet, as we pay homage, we must also confront an uncomfortable truth: the world has changed. The baton of leadership now rests in the hands of a new generation—millennials and Gen Z—who are not only inheritors of freedom but architects of a new kind of liberation. They are not fighting colonial chains, but digital divides; not only demanding political freedom, but economic justice, climate action, and access to artificial intelligence, innovation, and global opportunity.
This generational shift is not a rejection of the past, but an evolution of it. The young Africans rising today are not ungrateful—they are simply asking for a different kind of freedom fighter: one who understands that liberation in the 21st century means equitable access to technology, quality education, and inclusive governance. They demand leaders who can navigate the complexities of a real-time, interconnected world where change is not measured in decades, but in days.
If the liberators of yesterday fail to recognize this shift, they risk becoming relics—honored in speeches but disconnected from the pulse of the present. The struggle for relevance is no longer about who fought in which battle, but who can lead in this new era of quantum leaps and digital transformation. Entitlement based solely on past heroism is no longer sustainable.
Creativity, adaptability, and a commitment to intergenerational equity must now define leadership.
This is why the body politic must reflect the generational mix. Youth must not be tokenized in party structures or government; they must be empowered as decision-makers. The liberation movements that once led the charge against oppression must now lead the charge against stagnation. If they do not voluntarily pass the baton, history warns us—it will be snatched away, not in violence, but through the silent erosion of public trust.
As the UNESCO DG reminded us, preserving history is not just about monuments and museums—it is about making it living. It is about ensuring that the lessons of the past inform the policies of the present and inspire the dreams of the future. But preservation must not become preservationism. We cannot enshrine the past so rigidly that it suffocates the future.
The present is in a hurry. The global village evolves in real time. Africa cannot afford to be nostalgic while the world moves forward. We must build on the foundation laid by our forebears to construct a golden age rising—one where the Africa we want is not just free, but innovative, equitable, and globally competitive.
So let us say viva to our heroes. Let us teach their stories in every classroom and honor their names in every community. But let us also ensure that their legacy is not frozen in time. Let the old guard and the young Turks engage in a seamless transition of leadership—guided not by entitlement, but by service; not by nostalgia, but by vision.
For the preservation of our checkered political past and the promise of a radiant future, the baton must pass. Peacefully.
Purposefully. And with the full weight of history behind it, and the hope of generations ahead.
By Daniel T. Makokera
