Online Reporter
Africa Moyo in Vilankulo, Mozambique
VICE-President Kembo Mohadi yesterday concluded his four-nation tour, which saw him assessing the state of liberation war shrines in countries from which Zimbabwe launched its war of independence.
The visits were informed by the Second Republic’s broader efforts to preserve the legacy of Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle by restoring and maintaining sites of national historical importance within and outside the country.
The VP started off his visits mid-August in Angola, then Zambia, Tanzania and finished off the tours in Mozambique yesterday.
He was seen off at the Vilankulo International Airport by Inhambane Province Governor Francisco Manuel Pagula, Mozambique’s Ambassador to Zimbabwe Carvalho Muária and other senior Government officials.
In an interview before departure, VP Mohadi said he was impressed by what his team achieved.
“What we had set ourselves to do, we managed to achieve,” he said.
“You are right to say that we started in Angola and then from Angola we went to Zambia, Tanzania and then here (Mozambique).
“What this trip has given us is that we have now collected all the data that is required at each and every country where we launched our liberation struggle from. We are, therefore, going to sit down, sift through the information that we have and then strategise and then come up with a way forward of what we are going to be doing next.”
VP Mohadi said he was particularly impressed by the developments at the Josiah Magama Memorial Site in Massinga District.
The memorial site encompasses three aspects; the cenotaph, symbolic grave and a memorial tree.
A clinic named after Cde Tongogara, who commanded Zanla, the military wing of Zanu, is under construction as part of sustained efforts to immortalise the role played by the late military general in the liberation struggle.
Cde Tongogara, affectionately known as General Tongo, was also a member of the Dare reChimurenga and the High Command, which directed the liberation struggle.
He died in a road accident around 6am in the Magacaia village, in Massinga on December 26, 1979, as he drove to Chimoio, from Maputo to inform freedom fighters of the impending independence following the signing of the Lancaster House agreement.
VP Mohadi said the Josiah Magama Memorial Site has been developed to his satisfaction.
“You see how Massinga was developed. It’s actually a tourist area. So, we want all these shrines where our comrades fell to be turned into something like what we saw in Massinga.
“We need to establish interpretive centres that will tell the story of what happened at each and every site. That way we will then have achieved one thing; that is of informing our people, the generality of the public in Zimbabwe of what was obtained during the struggle and in doing so, that will definitely correct the history.
“It will also change the mindset of other people who were doubtful of what happened or who minimise the contributions that our people offered to liberate Zimbabwe.
“So, I am very happy about the trip. If there is need and if my principal still wants me to come back and then touch on a few things that he thinks I will not have covered properly, I am prepared to come back, but so far, I am very happy about what happened,” he said.
VP Mohadi said while he did not see the places like Morogoro and Mgagao in Tanzania, he has dispatched a team to visit those areas, and their report will feed into the one being compiled now.
“I think in short that is what we have achieved and that is how I view the whole thing (the tour),” he said.
Meanwhile, Governor Pagula invited more Zimbabwans to set up businesses in Inhambane’s tourism sector.
He said already, many Zimbabweans have set up businesses and are doing well.
