No editorial checks on this article yet

This article is not approvedThe content of this article is not verified by the editorial team of Africanews.com. Read our editorial requirements to see the criteria we use to decide if we publish an article on the homepage of Africanews.

Looking back - 17 April Independence day

  1. Posted on Wednesday 18 April 2007 - 12:24
    Redactie AfrikaNieuws
    Image of Redactie AfrikaNieuws
     17 April 2007. Taurai, my groovy dread-locked work mate, just asked me what I was doing 27 years ago.It"s hard to remember all the details (I"m 42 now) but I remember that I was living with my mother and brother in a flat in a complex called Hatley House on what was then North Avenue. We"d moved into Hatley House because it was sort of like a hotel which provided meals and with my mother recovering from a heart attack it made her life easier. It was close to Girls High School (GHS) where I was enrolled and also close to State House where Ian Smith had been riding out the last of his days in power.

     
    Being white on the eve of Independence meant being fearful. At least this was true for me, a scared and unsure fifteen year old. Whilst many whites had already "taken the gap" as the saying went, and still goes, we had stayed put. It was a case of "let"s wait and see".
     
    When the clock struck 12 we looked out into the street. I"m not sure what we expected to see: hordes of revenge bent black Zimbabweans, military vehicles, crowds of revelers? Perhaps we breathed a sigh of relief because the Avenues were largely quiet that night except for the sound of random hoots from the horns of a few cruising cars.
     
    The next day Mugabe"s Independence speech promised a better future, provided solace and encouraged reconciliation. Out on the street the mood was joyous. Everything seemed the same as before even while a momentous change had taken place.
     
    I could tumble down that worn out path of saying "look how awful its become" but I don"t want to do that. I think that it"s important sometimes to just try and remember that time when everything seemed so possible.
     
    Click here for the Zimbabwe Kutabana weblog.

Latest News

  1. OPINION: Welcome to African Green Revolution24/05For the past century and a half, Africa has tried various agricultural approaches without much success.
  2. Egyptians vote in historic election23/05Egyptians began voting freely on Wednesday for the first time to pick their president in a wide open election that pits Islamists against men who serv…
  3. Africa Day 2012 - a moment for reflection and…22/0525th May is Africa Day. For many years it has been a celebration of African unity. It dates back to 1963 when the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) …
  4. South Africa's African agenda21/05The Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, Kgalema Mothlanthe paid a rare visit to Ghana in April at the invitation of John Dramani Mahama …
  5. Women struggle to rinse hunger, poverty stains21/05Just looking at her one clearly appreciates that she is old and frail therefore in need of support for food, clothing and shelter to live comfortably …
  6. Climate Climate change affects migratory birds…21/05Changes in the climate globally have affected the movement of both migratory and resident species of birds, Nature Uganda has said.
  7. Ghana: Foreign retailers cited for currency…18/05The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) is attributing the sharp depreciation of the Ghana cedi against major currencies to the illegal activiti…
  8. Kenya: Community radio brings succour to…18/05Korogocho, a slum in northeastern Nairobi with 100,000 inhabitants, had many of the ingredients for a political explosion similar to those that rocked…
  9. Veld fires 'flame' Zimbabwe's…16/05Over the years, Zimbabwe has experienced the scourge of veld fires destroying property worth thousands of dollars.
  10. Liberia commends ECOWAS for support14/05The induction training of pioneer Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Volunteers for Liberia kicked off in Monrovia, with the Deputy Mi…
  11. Vanishing Lake Chad puts 30m lives at risk14/05As you approach the Lake Chad basin from Maiduguri, in north-eastern Nigeria, the evidence of despair is telling.
  12. Heavy rains cause havoc in Kenya14/05Heavy Rainfall continued to wreak havoc across the country leading to the suspension of relief food in some parts of the country as most roads in Turk…
  13. Zimbabwe: Growth points lie dormant14/05The Zimbabwean government mooted the concept of growth points in the 1980s as a means of decongesting cities and towns.
  14. Sierra Leone improves in infant mortality11/05Sierra Leone has improved in infant mortality cases according to Save the Children- World Motherhood index 2012 report. The West Africa country descri…
  15. Zimbabwe: Resettled farmers fail to utilize…10/05Resettled farmers in Zimbabwe are failing to utilize land due to inadequate farming inputs and lack of resources.
News archive