adminTongogara Legacy Foundation, Dr Simbi Mubako wants the commemoration of Boxing Day to be replaced with naming the day in honour of the liberation war icon who died on December 26 1979.
Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander, General Constantine Chiwenga wants KGVI, an army barrack named after King George to be named after Cde Tongogara.
The duo said this yesterday while addressing friends, relatives and colleagues attending the commemoration of Cde Tongogara at KGVI.
Dr Mubako said Boxing Day was a name inherited from the colonial period.
“I want to propose that you work through various channels, including and especially Cabinet, to have this day renamed in honour of the late Zanla Commander, who gave so much to us,” he said.
“Next year when we meet on this occasion, we don’t want to talk about Boxing Day. We want to talk about Josiah Magama Tongogara Day.”
The proposal drew applause from the floor.
When it was the turn of Gen Chiwenga to be on the floor, he departed from a prepared speech where he was reading Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa’s speech to make his request.
“The history of Cde Tongogara is very clear. I want to give my plea, that this name, KGVI must be buried. I am pushing forward that this barrack be named after Josiah Magama Tongogara,” he said.
Gen Chiwenga, who was winding up his speech, was received with thunderous applause from the floor.
During the event, Minister Mnangagwa took the audience down memory lane where he narrated how they used to relate with Cde Tongogara.
He said after finishing time in prison, he went to stay at Cde Tongogara’s residence in Zambia where he would be left at home with a sister to Tongogara.
It was during this time that he fell in love with the sister and eventually married her.
Online Reporter