Chronicle Editor
Andile Tshuma, Chronicle Reporter
THE late Vice-President Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo has been described as champion of peace in the country, whose leadership drove the nation to unity.
Speaking at a memorial event to mark the 23rd anniversary of the liberation icon’s demise at the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Museum in Bulawayo yesterday, Bulawayo Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Cde Judith Ncube, said the late Vice-President’s works continues to light the county’s path, as his legacy remains a major guide for the Second Republic.
“We are gathered here today for a truly remarkable and historic occasion as we commemorate the life of our gallant son of the soil, our true hero, the late Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo, popularly and affectionately known as Father Zimbabwe or ‘Umdala Wethu’.
“It has been 23 years but it still feels like yesterday. The wound is still fresh but today we don’t want to cry and mourn but to celebrate his legacy and achievements.
“Dr Nkomo ran his race, he left us all a legacy, a gift and present for our nation and that for our future generations to emulate.”
Minister Ncube described the late Dr Nkomo as a selfless leader who put the interests of others ahead of his own and those of his immediate family.
“Dr Nkomo was a nationalist and a pan-Africanist who worked selflessly and tirelessly for Zimbabwe. He dedicated his entire adult life to fighting for the liberation of Zimbabwe from the yoke of oppression and colonialism,” she said.
“He led his people to freedom and cultivated unity across the length and breadth of Zimbabwe. He believed in inclusiveness and unity, he loved all people in Zimbabwe regardless of race, tribe, class and ethnicity. He hated regionalism, he hated racism, and oppression.”
Minister Ncube said reconciliation in the country was best expressed in the 1987 Unity Accord, which brought to an end the civil strife of the early 1980s commonly known as Gukurahundi.
“Even in the darkest times of a menacing dark cloud of potential civil strife and terror in the early 1980s, Dr Nkomo’s desire for unity prevailed leading to the signing of the Unity accord in 1987,” she said.
“This development brought peace and tranquillity with Zimbabwe becoming a model of unity and peace in Africa and the world at large. This put to shame the hand of detractors who sought to put us at war.”
Minister Ncube said Dr Nkomo was never a regional leader but was a nationalist par excellence who appealed to Zimbabweans from all walks of life hence his title ‘Father Zimbabwe’.
“Dr Nkomo, the pioneer of peace believed in peace and reconciliation. He believed that in order to achieve great things, we must unite as a nation. He also believed that our prosperity lies in the land,” she said.
Cde Ncube said the Second Republic led by President Mnangagwa was appreciative of key role-played Dr Nkomo and castigated opposition political elements that belittle the liberation stalwart’s legacy by restricting him to Matabeleland and claiming that he sold out by signing the Unity Accord.
Dr Nkomo’s daughter, Mrs Thandiwe-Nkomo-Ebrahim paid tribute to the Second Republic for recognising and honouring their father’s legacy and received a gift in the form of a tractor from President Mnangagwa.
She said the gift was relevant to her father’s memory as he was passionate about agriculture and the empowerment of all Zimbabweans.
“We knew our father did not belong to us alone but we understood that he was the father to so many people and we are comforted by the numbers of so many people who still remember him like we do, 23 years later,” said Mrs Nkomo-Ebrahim.
“We are very grateful to the President for this thoughtful gift, a tractor.”
Online Reporter
Sidumisile Mabena