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Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo`s 3 meter tall bronze statue,described as ‘small and pitiful’ ,was pulled down in 2010

Senior Reporter
OUTGOING Home Affairs Minister Cde Kembo Mohadi has said work on the re-construction of a pedestal on which the statue of the late Vice President Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo will be erected, will be completed next month.Cde Mohadi said the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ), which falls under his ministry was allocated a substantial amount of money for the project by the Government.

“We have secured substantial funds from Government for the erection of late Vice-President Dr Nkomo’s statue and work has already started.

“We have already cordoned off the road on which the statue would be erected and we expect the project to be completed by mid–October,” he said.

The Ministry of Public Works is on record as saying the project requires $400 000 for it to be completed.
The gigantic statue would be erected at the intersection of 8th Avenue and Main Street in Bulawayo.

Cde Mohadi said the project was not abandoned but only temporarily stopped due to financial constraints.

“We never stopped the project, but it was only an issue of financial constraints. Of course you will realise that in the past we had a few hiccups with the Nkomo family but we resolved those challenges and work resumed thereafter.

“We have all along been working on the project outside the site and it is now that we have put people at the site and they are working on constructing the pedestal whose height has been raised in accordance with the wishes of the Nkomo family,” he said.

The statue is being kept at the Bulawayo History Museum.
The Government through NMMZ is working with the Bulawayo City Council to erect Dr Nkomo’s statue, in memory of the late nationalist’s works and contributions.

The community of Bulawayo has also welcomed the move by Government re-erect Dr Nkomo’s statue, saying it was an exciting development considering that Father Zimbabwe was a man of the people who deserves all the honour for the role that he played in liberating the country from colonialism.

Dr Nkomo died on 1 July 1999 and the project to erect his statue between Main Street and 8th Avenue in Bulawayo has been met with obstacles.