Chronicle Editor
Farirai Machivenyika, Harare Bureau
PRESIDENT Mugabe has recommended that the seven liberation war fighters who died in the famous Chinhoyi battle that marked the beginning of the Second Chimurenga be declared national heroes.
The seven engaged the Rhodesian forces on April 28, 1966, at the start of Zimbabwe’s fight against colonial rule.
President Mugabe said this at the Mashonaland West Presidential Youth Interface Rally held at Chinhoyi University of Technology grounds on Saturday.
He urged Zimbabweans to protect the country’s sovereignty in memory of the gallant sons and daughters of the country that lost their lives during the liberation struggle.
“We, the rest, must continue to think not just of the present, but of those who fell, beginning with the gallant seven sons who fell here (in Chinhoyi), in defence of our country, in defence of our revolution. I have visited the graves,” he said.
“I would want the seven of them, all of them, because they are the ones who started on this side, the Zanu side, the armed struggle as we recognise it today, the guerilla struggle.
“I would want to recommend to the rest of our comrades in Government that we declare all the seven, as they lie there, national heroes and erect a monument there, inscribing their names.”
The seven are Cdes Simon Chimbodza, Christopher Chatambudza, Nathan Charumuka, Godwin Manyerenyere, Ephraim Shenjere, David Guzuzu and Arthur Maramba.
President Mugabe thanked Roman Catholic Church’s Father Francis Ribeiro for writing a book after his research on the seven pioneer fighters of the liberation struggle.
Father Ribeiro detested colonial rule and backed the liberation war fighters, including visiting them when they were incarcerated by the colonial regime.
He also assisted President Mugabe and the late Cde Edgar Tekere when they were leaving the country for Mozambique to guide the liberation struggle following the unexpected death of the then Zanu chairman Cde Herbert Chitepo in Zambia.
On the fateful day in 1966, the seven gallant fighters engaged the Rhodesian forces who were aided by fighter jets and helicopters in a battle that took almost the whole day.
They held on in defence of their positions, forcing the Rhodesians to deploy all their military might, including fighter jets.
The seven were only killed after they ran out of ammunition and are buried at Chemagamba Cemetery (Mashonaland West provincial heroes acre) in Chinhoyi.
Online Reporter