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The Late Vice President Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo

On Saturday Zimbabweans across the country commemorated the 18th anniversary of the death of Vice President Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo also known as Father Zimbabwe. Dr Nkomo who succumbed to prostate cancer at the age of 82, bequeathed to Zimbabweans a very rich legacy.

It was through the sacrifice of gallant sons of the soil such as Dr Nkomo that Zimbabweans are today enjoying the fruits of Independence. After leading from the front during the liberation struggle, Dr Nkomo was among Government leaders that believed the people were not free as long as their resources such as land remained in the hands of the colonialists.

He together with President Mugabe embarked on the second struggle which was to give land to the people. Today more than 300 000 families are proud owners of land in areas which used to be a preserve of the minority white farmers.

Dr Nkomo repeatedly warned whites against resisting the Government’s land acquisition programme saying refusing to share the resource was a ticking time bomb. In the year 2000 Dr Nkomo was vindicated when the impatient landless Zimbabweans invaded white-owned farms forcing Government to embark on the fast track land reform programme.

The people could not wait anymore because the land acquisition was moving at a snail’s pace as the whites were reluctant to sell the land to Government so that it could resettle the people. Dr Nkomo’s vision of empowering the people through allocating them land is bearing fruit as new farmers are now accounting for the bulk of the food crops the country is producing.

This year the country realised a bumper harvest and this has been attributed to both the Presidential Inputs Support Scheme and Command Agriculture. Noone can dispute the fact that Command Agriculture is just an improved version of what Dr Nkomo had started when he pioneered a number of projects to improve both crop and livestock production.

Dr Nkomo also believed that Zimbabwe had the required human resources hence he was against the idea of seeking services outside the country. It was because of the confidence he had in the capacity of Zimbabweans to deliver that he called for the establishment of a specialist hospital in Bulawayo, Ekusileni Medical Centre.

It is unfortunate that the 200-bed hospital built at a cost of $4 million in 2000, has remained a white elephant. Dr Nkomo must be turning in his grave as a result of the nation’s failure to fulfil his dream of providing specialist medical services to the people. The commemorations on Saturday should have reminded us to work even harder to ensure that the hospital is opened without further delays.

The hospital, the brainchild of Dr Nkomo, has all that is required when it comes to buildings and what is only needed is equipment and working capital. We want to once again implore Zimbabweans to follow in the footsteps of Dr Nkomo who detested tribalism hence commanded respect from across the country.

Chibwechitedza was his other name confirming he was not only respected by people from Matabeleland where he was born but by Zimbabweans from all the corners of the country.