adminMartha Leboho Masvingo Bureau
Zanu-PF youths have embarked on a clean-up exercise at Trabablas Trail Heritage Site that was recently opened by Government in honour of President Mnangagwa’s historic bombing of a Rhodesian locomotive at Masvingo Railway Station in 1964.
The enshrinement of the heritage site will see a museum being built at Masvingo Railway Station where documentary history about President Mnangagwa’s famous exploits will be displayed.
Trabablas Trail was coined after President Mnangagwa’s nom-de-guerre, Cde Trabablas Dzokerai Mabhunu.
Government recently released $500 000 through the Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry for the enshrinement of Trabablas Trail and three other liberation war sites as part of promoting domestic tourism and preserving the country’s history of the liberation struggle.
Zanu-PF youths under the banner of Zimbabwe Youths in Tourism and the National Youth Service, said the clean-up campaign was a way of paying homage to the President.
Zimbabwe Youths in Tourism chair Cde Pianos Chadya said youths wanted to help in the sprucing up of Trabablas Trail.
“The Trabablas Trail has been enshrined to be a heritage site but its current state is not good especially in the eyes of visitors, so as ruling party youths we just volunteered our services so that we spruce it up to befit its status,” he said.
“We also have plans to create a nature park so that this place will have more activity so that more people can access the history about Trabablas Trail.’’
Zanu-PF Masvingo youths co-ordinator Cde Silvester Chikondo said the clean-up campaign was being undertaken by youths from all 10 wards in the city.
“We are also going to plant trees along the Trabablas Trail among other additional developments that we hope will help preserve this heritage site,” said Mr Chikondo.
The idea to enshrine the Trabablas Trail was initiated by Zanu-PF’s Department of Environment and Tourism and work on the shrine is already underway with the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe having completed designs for the site.
President Mnangagwa and his colleague, the late Cde Mathew Malowa, blew up a Rhodesian locomotive at Masvingo Railway Station as part of subversive activities of the famous Crocodile Gang signalling the intention to start armed conflict against the colonial government which was opposed to majority rule.
The President was eventually arrested for the bombing exercise in 1965 and sentenced to death before the sentence was commuted to 10-year imprisonment on an age technicality.
Online Reporter