Revealed: Marley's prophecy on Zimbabwe.

Bob Marley during a concert in 1980.

To say we are independent, from what do we refer to? Our forefathers won the liberation struggle and gained an independence of the state, one which meant we would govern ourselves and "progress" into a society that we would be happy with. On the day that we first celebrated this weaning off from our colonisers, Bob Marley composed and sang the song, Zimbabwe on the eve of celebrations that showed the promise of a new state. But as time would tell, none of these promises would be fulfilled four decades later. As soon as the song ended, so too did everything that it represented and now only remains in memory and a sad reminder of all that has gone wrong.

There has been many beautiful words said and written about the gesture of Robert Marley on his ability to pen a tribute song for the country in 1980 but it seems, we have barely scratched the surface on the prophetic messages in this song. At the time of his emotional unveil on that fateful evening in Harare, it seemed that he was talking of the past. But looking closely at his lyrics, it seems that Bob was prophetic and his words are true for the "struggle" that we faced then and most importantly, now.

When the reggae icon was chanting, "We gon' fight, We'll have to fight, Fight for our rights!" he was not singing to a nation that was still up in arms. Instead it was a free nation under a new leadership, beaming with "endless possibilities". The words in this song, should have easily become the national anthem as it serves as a reminder and inspiration since then, now and forever; for what every man in this country should aim to be. That "arm in arms, we'll fight this little struggle, cause that's the only way we can overcome our little trouble"

Indeed, the short cited will see this as a call to "physical" arms whenever we face problems when actually it transcends even to every other war one faces in the world which is not always physical in nature. The "arm in arms" phrase is one that depicts what ought to be done today. A gesture of affectionately walking together as a people and in unison, never leaving anyone behind. When Bob says, "I'n'I a-liberate (You and I can liberate) Zimbabwe" he was sending a futuristic message to the nation. One which we needed to decode and understand before implementing to achieve what he emotionally ought to see in the country.

In which ever way you zoom into these lyrics, you will realise that they remain a powerful tool that can remind Zimbabweans of what they ought to do and be.

"Every man gotta right to decide his own destiny. And in this judgment there is no partiality"

It had been a long time since I played the song but I streamed it particularly for this piece so that I can tap into the prophetic of the Rastaman as he sang. The song is littered with rights issues, the first sentence serves as a powerful reminder of how impartial the decision in one's destiny has been trampled upon in my country. The words on the song, Zimbabwe are more engraved in our hearts than the speech by Marley's namesake Mugabe.

It seems that as soon as the musical Robert was on his way back to Jamaica, the political "Bob" was on his way into committing atrocities, thievery and an autocratic rule that would last for decades, ruining the very foundations of the state of Zimbabwe as sung by the Jamaican. It seems he learnt nothing from his namesake and I wonder if they had the opportunity to speak afterwards or even now in some place (life after death) sharing stories and questioning each other's past decisions on earth as leaders in their respective fronts.

My assumption that the nonagenarian has had plenty to answer for and still is from the much loved Bob.

"No more internal power struggle. We come together to overcome the little trouble. Soon we'll find out who is the real revolutionary"

These words echo the very state of the modern nation. I understand how easy it is to be lost to the beauty of the song and infectious Caribbean sway but someone should have realised a few years later that Bob Marley was seeing the future. Today as we turned 41, the country is more divided than ever along tribal, factional, religious and political views. Power struggles led to a new dispensation and even afterwards there still is a heavy unease. There is no country, without a war and drought that has seen more people leave to start another life elsewhere than this "bread basket" of Southern Africa. It still remains the thought on every other youth in the country, four decades after our independence.

The current leadership needs to see that the future of the nation depends on bringing the gap between these lines and only then can we realise a true, real "revolutionary". One that should see every individual embracing the flag under one rule and accumulating a love despite the differences.

"To divide and rule could only tear us apart..In everyman chest, there beats a heart.. And I don't want my people to be tricked by mercenaries"

In this passage, "divide and rule", "tear us apart" and "tricked by mercenaries" pretty much sum up what is a current occurrence in my great Zimbabwe. A leadership that tears people apart and is easily tricked by mercenaries, basically every other individual or country pretending to offer assistance to us when they are actually motivated by personal gain. It would be useless at this point to point out the many crimes that have been committed to the people of Zimbabwe who despite it all, still have a "beating heart inside their chest". it is because no matter where we go, we belong to this "young democracy" which still has a lot to learn and un-learn to bring back the confidence we see in other African nations when they celebrate their freedoms and independence.

The song Zimbabwe appears in an album called Survival, behind a track called, "So much trouble in the world" and is one of the reggae artist's most sold albums. Nothing screams prophetic than this album but then again, every other song from him were masterclasses and are still relevant to date.

A thought crossed my mind when I took a hot shower in the evening of Independence day for the country that I was born in but distanced from it due to poverty. The hardships I have faced in raising a family, keeping a career or an investment and supporting an extended family led me to seek success in another. On the same day that thousands took to social media to celebrate the day, I felt unmoved.

I failed to understand the meaning of the celebrations because until we have got rid of the internal struggles, divisions, mercenaries, kleptocrats and unfairness, true independence will continue to elude us. In the same manner, as we continue to celebrate our autonomy from our slave masters while behaving much worse than they are, we make them look better and much more justified on the fight they waged decades ago.

To understand the Zimbabwe song is to understand what true independence is. And even after forty-one years of colonial independence, Zimbabwe has never enjoyed a single day of a true independence, one that encompasses the physical as well as the psychological. Without a proper understanding of the definition of "freedom" and "independence" we are doomed as vagabonds and gypsies dancing to the capitalists tune all over the world in the name of survival from the embarrassment of the politics, also a dime and a nickel.

Zimbabwe by Bob Marley

Every man gotta right to decide his own destiny And in this judgment there is no partiality So arm in arms, with arms We'll fight this little struggle 'Cause that's the only way We can overcome our little trouble Brother you're right, you're right, You're right, you're right, you're so right We gon' fight (We gon' fight) We'll have to fight (We gon' fight) We gonna fight (We gon' fight) Fight for our rights! Natty dread it in-a (Zimbabwe) Set it up in (Zimbabwe) Mash it up-a in-a Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe) Africans a-liberate (Zimbabwe) No more internal power struggle We come together to overcome the little trouble Soon we'll find out who is the real revolutionary 'Cause I don't want my people to be contrary

And brother you're right, you're right, You're right, you're right, you're so right We'll have to fight (We gon' fight) We gonna fight (We gon' fight) We'll have to fight (We gon' fight) Fighting for our rights Mash it up in-a (Zimbabwe) Natty trash it in-a (Zimbabwe) Africans a-liberate Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe) I'n'I a-liberate Zimbabwe Brother you're right, you're right, You're right, you're right, you're so right We gon' fight (We gon' fight) We'll have to fight (We gon' fight) We gonna fight (We gon' fight) Fighting for our rights To divide and rule could only tear us apart In everyman chest, there beats a heart So soon we'll find out who is the real revolutionary And I don't want my people to be tricked by mercenaries Brother you're right, you're right, You're right, you're right, you're so right We'll have to fight (We gon' fight) We gonna fight (We gon' fight) We'll have to fight (We gon' fight) Fighting for our rights Natty trash it in-a Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe) Mash it up in-a Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe) Set it up in-a Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe) Africans a-liberate Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe) Africans a-liberate Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe) Natty dub it in-a Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe) Set it up in-a Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe) Africans a-liberate Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe) Every man got a right to decide his own destiny