The decision was reached during the Zanu-PF 21st Annual
National People’s Conference, which ended in Bulawayo on Saturday.
“On liberation war heritage, the party directs Government
to accelerate renaming of provinces and do away with colonial names, which
divide the nation,” said legal secretary, Cde Patrick Chinamasa.
Historian, Mr Methembe Hadebe, commended the ruling party
for the resolution, saying the decision was long overdue. “The naming of the
provinces was part of the colonialists’ divide and rule antics. It was a
programme that was meant to make people not see themselves beyond their
ethnicity,” he told The Chronicle.
“Changing the names of the provinces will create national
pride as opposed to having people thinking only of their ethnicity. This is a
welcome development and I believe this is long overdue,” said Mr Hadebe.
He said even the implementation of national projects will
have a buy in from every Zimbabwean as it will be inclusive in nature promoting
national heritage.
Mr Hadebe said the renaming of the provinces should be
accompanied by a review of the country’s educational curriculum and address
historical misconceptions.
When colonialists settled in the country, they named
provinces along ethnic lines with the southern parts of the country named
Matabeleland largely because Ndebele speaking people dominated the areas while
the northern parts were named Mashonaland as Shona ethnic groups dominated the
areas.
0 comments:
Post a Comment