dyton mupawaenda
Leonard Ncube-Victora Falls Reporter
AS Zimbabwe celebrates National Unity Day today, war veterans in Hwange District have organised a meeting whose agenda is to mobilise the former freedom fighters and the generality of the local community to embrace and cherish the unity championed by the country’s founding fathers.
Since the signing of the Unity Accord by the late President Robert Mugabe and the late Vice President Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo in 1987, Zimbabweans every year commemorate Unity Day on December 22 to reflect on the benefits of this milestone achievement which united Zimbabweans.
In an interview, Cde Jaheliduna Ndlovu, a traditional leader popularly known as Mpisi Monde in Victoria Falls, said unity day was never complete without war veterans.
“This is Christmas for war veterans and we chose 22 December so that we celebrate together because since independence we have never had such an event. We have invited war veterans and their spouses including widows so that we come and celebrate together,” he said.
“We have put in place structures and we will share ideas because we want to interact as people who fought during the liberation struggle war. We want to be organised as a local chapter.”
The celebrations will take place at KoMpisi, a cultural village that was created by Cde Ndlovu for cultural tourism.
Cde Ndlovu said war veterans have since started their own funeral cover within their community and they are using funds from the pool to prepare for the event.
“Unity is not complete without unifying war veterans who fought for the independence that we are enjoying today. Some people did not fight and therefore have no idea how it felt like. The pain of a lack of unity is what drives us to host this party as we want to show that unity starts with us,” he said.
“Some people don’t understand that independence and unity came through our sacrifices as veterans of the struggle.”
Traditionalist Mr David Ngwenya, popularly known as Mhabhinyana from Bulawayo, said there was a need to go back to basics and respect the founding principles.
“This is an important day when our leaders decided to unite and foster peace in the nation. So it is an important day and we should therefore show unity, which was preached by our late founding fathers and other nationalists,” said Mr Ngwenya.
He bemoaned the departure from national ethos as reflected by the delay in the implementation of some projects that had stalled until the coming in of the Second Republic. Now it was through unity that projects were being implemented countrywide
“We should go back to basics and it is our duty as elders to guide the younger generation to understand the country’s founding principles,” he said.
Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Richard Moyo said while there are no planned public activities, citizens should be reminded of the importance of National Unity Day.
“This is an important day because after liberating our country, our leaders saw that we were divided along tribal lines and they decided to sit down and sign a Unity Accord. No development can happen where there is no peace and neither would an investor come,” he said.
Soon after independence, the country went through some political turmoil that ended following the signing of the Unity Accord. The Unity Accord is credited for ending Gukurahundi in Matabeleland and parts of the Midlands province.
Online Reporter