Online Reporter
Richard Muponde
Zimpapers Politics Hub
FIVE remains of slain Zipra cadres have been exhumed from shallow graves at Sanyati Rest Camp, following rituals that led a local family to confess they had interfered with the freedom fighters’ graves decades ago.
This brings the total number of exhumed Zipra fighters at the site to eight.
On August 11 and 12, Zimbabwe will celebrate Heroes’ Day and Defence Forces Day, respectively. The exhumation of liberation war fighters highlights the importance of honouring the nation’s departed heroes and heroines of the liberation struggle, many of whom still await dignified burials, having been laid to rest in unmarked graves.
Fallen Heroes Trust of Zimbabwe (FHTZ) chairperson, Dr Arthur Makanda confirmed the latest exhumations yesterday, saying they followed traditional ceremonies conducted at the Madoda family near the camp. The family admitted their late father, who once worked at the Rest Camp as a general worker, helped bury the bodies in 1979.
“Today (yesterday) we have exhumed five after that ritual of getting the comrades from that tree,” Dr Makanda said.
He explained that the spirits of the cadres had reportedly shifted to a tree at the Madoda homestead, manifesting as an avenging spirit that haunted the family through mysterious flocks of birds nesting there in large numbers.
Among the exhumed were the remains of Cde Lungike Ndlovu, who was killed in Kasirisiri in 1979 and later brought to Sanyati Rest Camp. Cde Ndlovu and his colleague, Cde Garikai, were reportedly paraded dead, their bodies defiled with wire brushes before being hastily buried outside the camp. Also exhumed was Cde Themba Ncube, killed in the Nyimo area that same year, whose skeleton was recovered still wearing tattered undergarments, a bangle, and a ring.
The actual exhumations began on Sunday, starting with Cde Ncube and including Cdes Mandebvu and Zaire, whose ashes were interred near Munyati River.
