Pupurai Togarepi Calls For Law To Ban Celebrating Rhodesia

Togarepi,
in
a
post
on
X,
stated
that
romanticizing
Rhodesia
is
akin
to
celebrating
Adolf
Hitler’s
“Final
Solution”
in
Israel,
where
the
genocide
of
millions
of
Jews
is
regarded
as
an
atrocity.
He
wrote:

We
will
propose
tough
legislation
to
deal
with
nostalgic
Rhodies:
black,
white,
or
pink.
The
last
vestiges
of
colonialism
must
be
destroyed
with
the
soonest.
You
can’t
celebrate
the
holocaust
in
Germany
or
Israel,
so
it
shall
be,
no
celebration
of
colonialism
in
Zimbabwe…

Rhodesia
was
built
on
exploitation
and
exclusion.
The
economy
was
for
a
few
whites
while
Zimbabwe
is
for
the
majority.

Responding
to
Togarepi,
Brian
Mari
said
the
black
government
killed
more
black
people
than
Rhodesians
under
Ian
Smith.
He
wrote:

Iwe
@TogarepiPupurai
enda
undisungirire
pawakandisunungura.
Ndaiva
nane
ndiri
ipapa.
(You,
Pupurai
Togarepi,
go
and
get
me
tied
at
the
place
where
you
set
me
free
from.
I
was
better
off
there.)

I
fear
mnangagwa
than
Smith.
Gukurahundi
killed
more
blacks
than
Smith.

CIOs
are
scary
than
sellous
scouts.

All
our
life
savings
were
eroded
3
times
after
your
so
called
independence.

Togarepi’s
remarks
come
in
the
wake
of
a
heated
debate
on
X,
where
Zimbabweans
have
been
comparing
life
under
the
current
ZANU
PF-led
government
to
that
of
the
Ian
Smith
regime,
which
governed
Rhodesia
until
its
collapse
in
1980.

The
debate
has
sparked
divided
opinions,
with
some
arguing
that
the
Smith
administration,
despite
its
white
supremacist
policies,
was
more
efficient
and
less
corrupt
than
the
current
government.

Critics
of
the
current
regime
point
to
the
deterioration
of
infrastructure
and
the
ongoing
economic
struggles,
which
they
claim
mirror
some
of
the
failures
seen
under
colonial
rule.

On
the
other
side,
there
are
those
who
strongly
oppose
any
romanticization
of
Rhodesia,
highlighting
the
injustices
and
racial
discrimination
that
characterized
the
regime.

Togarepi’s
call
for
legislation
against
celebrating
Rhodesia
comes
as
part
of
a
broader
effort
to
reject
any
nostalgia
for
the
colonial
era
and
to
protect
the
legacy
of
Zimbabwe’s
liberation
struggle.

His
comments
probably
reflect
ZANU
PF’s
stance
on
confronting
what
they
view
as
efforts
to
undermine
the
achievements
of
independence.