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Bongani Ndlovu, Online Reporter

PRESIDENT Mnangagwa arrived late Wednesday afternoon at the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport in Bulawayo ahead of him officially commissioning the reconstructed Pupu National Monument in Lupane, Matabeleland North Province on Thursday.

Watch here :   https://youtu.be/lf1O9wZ-JeY

President Mnangagwa touched down at 4.40 PM.

The President was welcomed by Bulawayo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Judith Ncube, Zanu-PF Bulawayo Provincial Chairman Cde Jabulani Sibanda, Retired Colonel Tshinga Dube, Secretary for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Mr Paul Nyoni, Ward 20 Councillor Cde Sandra Ndebele-Sibindi and service chiefs.

The commissioning is part of efforts by the country to correct distorted historical narratives that undermined the inspirational bravery and legacy bequeathed by the country’s heroes.

The new-look monument has immortalised the famous Pupu Battle of 1893, which demonstrated the bravery of Ndebele warriors under the command of General Mtshane Khumalo, who defeated 33 British troopers led by Major Allan Wilson.

Wilson and his men were on a mission to capture King Lobengula but Amabutho, as the Ndebele warriors were known, using the cow-horn formation, prevailed against them, killing all the British troopers on the spot.

The Second Republic has been on a deliberate drive to correct the country’s distorted history, especially where colonialists were giving themselves credit, ignoring the resilience and bloody sacrifices of the indigenous Africans.

The Government, through the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ) in consultation with renowned historian, Mr Pathisa Nyathi, embarked on the reconstruction of Pupu Monument, which previously glorified the conquered Allan Wilson and his 33 British mercenaries.

The new monument is built in a cow-horn formation and surrounds the smaller one that was previously erected to celebrate the defeated colonialists, a clear signal of how Allan Wilson and his men were overcome by Ndebele warriors who were also known as Ingwazi.

The commissioning is expected to amplify the glorious history of the first Umvukela/Chimurenga and shed more details on how the Ndebele warriors resisted colonialism and shielded King Lobengula from humiliation and capture by the British during the battle that occurred on December 3 and 4 in 1893.