Zimpapers Logo

Leonard Ncube , Victoria Falls Reporter
WAR veterans in Matabeleland North have started a process of identifying and documenting all battle sites and areas where revolutionaries died during the war of liberation in an effort to prepare content that will be put in the continental museum in Harare.

President Mnangagwa late last year presided over groundbreaking of a site where the Museum of African Liberation will be built by all countries of the continent, with the aim to allow Africa to tell its own history as opposed to the one-sided Euro-centric narratives that had filed public space for decades. The Museum of African Liberation will be hosted in Harare to document, preserve, protect and promote the continent’s liberation legacy.

War veterans in Matabeleland North said it is up to them to take a leading stand in coming up with artefacts and material from the war of liberation from the province, to feed into the national liberation story.

There are numerous battle sites across the province where liberation fighters took down Rhodesian forces’ war planes and killed many soldiers, and some of them are Kalisosa, Chidobe and Mbizha in Hwange District as well as the famous Pupu where Ndebele King Lobengula’s warriors defeated Allan Wilson’s army.

In Chidobe there is wreckage scattered in the bush following the 1979 battle where freedom fighters shot down a Rhodesian forces’ helicopter. A few years ago, various stakeholders visited the site amid plans to turn the area into a museum although nothing has been done to date. War veteran Cde Davison Ndlovu popularly known as Skuza who was leading one of the regiments that were called in for reinforcement in the Chidobe battle where he was shot on the arm, implored Government to speed up process of developing battle sites into museums.

“We proposed that the sites in Chidobe be developed into a museum. There are other battles that were bigger than these ones but remain little known because they were neglected. Our plan is to identify all battles in their order so that we compile everything as a province and ensure our history is included in the country’s narrative,” he said. Matabeleland North War veterans Association chair Cde Sonny Mguni who is also Zanu-PF Bubi legislator said there are also programmes targeting former freedom fighters being implemented by Government.

He said independence ushered in democracy in education, access to health, land reform, right to vote and devolution of power as he implored war veterans to be patient as the Second Republic is committed to improving their welfare.

“We are identifying all areas where battles were fought and where people died in the province. To us those battles signified victory because they forced the colonial government to seek dialogue so we are looking at equipment and artillery used during the war. We want everything including names of all revolutionaries to be included so that young people get the correct history of our liberation,” he said.

“It is our wish as war veterans for every citizen to know that independence ended bottlenecks as it brought along the right to education. Locals were intelligent but few went beyond standard 6 because they were blacks. A lot is coming for war veterans because the Second Republic recognizes former freedom fighters. Some are saying why wait for 41 years but as war veterans let’s be patient, it’s like dawn now as things are beginning to happen and we are starring Canaan,” said Cde Mguni.

He said funds will be availed to war veterans through a bank that will be set up specifically for former freedom fighters to access loans. Cde Mguni said while some might feel they are too old now to start businesses, they should do so to leave a legacy for their families. -@ncubeleon