News / Local
Just like Zanu-PF, MDC-T abusing a Bulawayo cemetery
13 Mar 2012 at 18:02hrs | Views
The Movement for Democratic Change led by Morgan Tsvangirai has been accused that it has turned Bulawayo's Lady Stanley Cemetery which is reserved for Bulawayo's nobility into an MDC-T private burial site.
Lady Stanley was originally a Second World War museum to commemorate servicemen who died in that war. It contains graves of 66 Commonwealth casualties.
Pre-independence era city fathers expanded the cemetery to also honour Bulawayo's social heroes who "served the city with distinction".
The MDC-T which assumed full control of the Bulawayo City Council in 2002 has continued the abuse of Bulawayo's prestigious Cemetery by burying one of its MPs and two Senators at the cemetery.
Traditionally, a full council meeting is convened before a decision is taken to bury an individual at the exclusive cemetery â€" the final resting place of Bulawayo's former mayors and prominent residents.
Firebrand former councillor Charles Mpofu and the opposition ZAPU accuse the MDC-T of lowering this standard.
This comes after Ennah Chitsa, the Senator for Masotsha Ndlovu, was accorded a burial at Lady Stanely last week, following a similar decision regarding another MDC-T Senator Gladys Dube Gombami (Mabuthweni) who was buried last year.
Former Emakhandeni-Entumbane MP Cornelius Raphael Dube â€" elected in 2008 â€" died a year later and was also granted a grave at Lady Stanley.
Mpofu told the Voice of America: "That's not what Lady Stanley is there for. It is the final resting place of individuals who demonstrated an unstinting commitment to the development of the city in their lifetime, over a sustained period of time.
"It's not a political burial site, it's for upstanding residents of Bulawayo and some of these people being buried there no-one has ever heard of."
Methuseli Moyo, spokesman for the opposition ZAPU party, said: "You don't become a hero by holding political office."
Some of Lady Stanley's residents include the former Matabeleland North governor Welshman Mabhena, liberation war hero and former ZIPRA commander Lookout Masuku, and former diplomat Isaac Nyathi.
Lady Stanley was originally a Second World War museum to commemorate servicemen who died in that war. It contains graves of 66 Commonwealth casualties.
Pre-independence era city fathers expanded the cemetery to also honour Bulawayo's social heroes who "served the city with distinction".
The MDC-T which assumed full control of the Bulawayo City Council in 2002 has continued the abuse of Bulawayo's prestigious Cemetery by burying one of its MPs and two Senators at the cemetery.
Traditionally, a full council meeting is convened before a decision is taken to bury an individual at the exclusive cemetery â€" the final resting place of Bulawayo's former mayors and prominent residents.
Firebrand former councillor Charles Mpofu and the opposition ZAPU accuse the MDC-T of lowering this standard.
This comes after Ennah Chitsa, the Senator for Masotsha Ndlovu, was accorded a burial at Lady Stanely last week, following a similar decision regarding another MDC-T Senator Gladys Dube Gombami (Mabuthweni) who was buried last year.
Former Emakhandeni-Entumbane MP Cornelius Raphael Dube â€" elected in 2008 â€" died a year later and was also granted a grave at Lady Stanley.
Mpofu told the Voice of America: "That's not what Lady Stanley is there for. It is the final resting place of individuals who demonstrated an unstinting commitment to the development of the city in their lifetime, over a sustained period of time.
"It's not a political burial site, it's for upstanding residents of Bulawayo and some of these people being buried there no-one has ever heard of."
Methuseli Moyo, spokesman for the opposition ZAPU party, said: "You don't become a hero by holding political office."
Some of Lady Stanley's residents include the former Matabeleland North governor Welshman Mabhena, liberation war hero and former ZIPRA commander Lookout Masuku, and former diplomat Isaac Nyathi.
Source - news
