Joshua Nkomo statue now a pipe dream

The two month extension period to work on the late Vice President Joshua Nkomo pedestal to support the North Korean-made bronze statue in Bulawayo has passed without anything done.

In January, Bulawayo City Council notified the public that it would close some sections of the statue site from the 17 February to March 17 "to facilitate the construction of the late Vice President Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo Statue."

However, within that period no construction work was done raising fears that it is now a pipe dream.

The statue is to be mounted at the intersection of Main Street and 8th Avenue.

A BCC official we spoke to on conditions of anonymity said they (BCC) are also surprised that the period has passed without work done.

"We had gotten indications from the people responsible for the statue that they want to resume work there.

"As council we made all necessary arrangements to ensure that construction is not disrupted. But we are surprised that nothing has been done" said the official.

A Harare based contractors vacated the construction site after government through the ministry of Home Affairs failed to pay the contractor for the little work it has done.

In 2010, the statue which was facing north was erected and covered with a black cloth sparking an outcry from city residents who felt black was synonymous with mourning and not celebration which befitted the erection of the statue.

It was immediately pulled down after the Nkomo family raised concerns.

The family complained that the government had not involved them in the whole project.

The statue itself, the family said, was very small, pitiful and hardly a street statue at all.