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Cde Angelina Masuku

Nyaradzo Bakari, Chronicle Reporter
WAR veterans have been urged to write their autobiographies to avoid distortion of history.

Speaking at the burial of liberation war hero Retired Captain Cde Elijah Ndlovu on Tuesday, Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans’ Association Bulawayo provincial chairperson Cde Cephas Ncube said war veterans should document their own stories.

“We have cases where war veterans have only one page of their autobiography. This is not expected of someone who worked tirelessly for the liberation of the country. We cannot be told of where he was born, where he learnt and where he crossed to during the liberation war without knowing what works he did wherever he was. Let’s take for instance our brother here Elijah. He was based at the Jason Ziyaphapha (JZ) Camp but we are not told what he did there. He joined the Zimbabwe National Army but we are not given details of his work there,” he said.

“So I urge all war veterans to have their autobiographies written and ready so that people don’t have to write it for them without proper details. It defeats the purpose of being a liberation hero or heroine when people do not know the good work you did for the country.”

Cde Ncube appealed to Government to constantly review the bereaved fund for war veterans so that families do not carry the burden of burying heroes.

“If there is inflation then there is a need to increase the fund. The money is given to the departed hero’s family. We are now in a new era and we are expecting the new Government to maintain the fund so that families of war veterans do not suffer,” he said.

In a speech read on her behalf by the Assistant Principal Administrative officer, Mr Tinei Magura, the Minister of State for Bulawayo Provincial Affairs, Cde Angelina Masuku, encouraged people to work together and support President Emmerson Mnangagwa in reviving the country’s economy.

“As people of Bulawayo province we must defend what we stood for in liberating the country from colonialism; we must uphold the values the late Cde Elijah Ndlovu left us. We are now in the serious business of developing the country through hard work as we are now in a new era. Let us support His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe Cde ED Mnangagwa by working hard to revive the economy and industry” she said.

“On behalf of the Government, the people of Bulawayo and on my own, I would like to express my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family to draw strength from the fact that it is God’s wish.”

The late Cde Elijah Isaac Ndlovu died last Sunday at Mpilo Central Hospital after a long illness.He was born in 1963. In 1977, he left the country headed to join the liberation struggle in Zambia via Botswana and was based at JZ Camp. According to his autobiography, he joined the ZNA in 1982 where he served until 2014. — @NyarieBakie.