Heroes denied hero status but mystery tree 'buried' at Heroes Acre

Thenjiwe Lesabe and Gibson Sibanda are among those who fought for the liberation of Zimbabwe but were denied heroes status when they died and were therefore not buried at the National Heroes Acre but the tree where the legendary Mbuya Nehanda was reportedly hanged by colonialists in 1898 has been transferred to the National Heroes Acre.

Ignatius Chombo said Mbuya Nehanda was not hanged at the tree but was executed mechanically somewhere close to the Africa Unity Square in central Harare.

"Those are historical distortions. From the information available from the archives, Mbuya Nehanda was not hanged on that tree. That history was told by the whites who wanted to distort the truth as to what really happened to Mbuya Nehanda.

Accomplished publisher and one of the first top officials of Zimbabwe's post-independence government, Ibbo Mandaza, said the tree had colonial legacy only but could not be associated with the death of Nehanda.

"Mbuya Nehanda was hanged at the gallows somewhere close to the city centre," Mandaza said.

The tree was brought down two weeks ago by a workman operating a council construction vehicle and was removed from the roadside after some rituals were performed by a member of the Zimbabwe Traditional Healers Association.

The "historical tree" was brought down accidently by council employees just at the time same time Zanu PF was opening its annual conference, two weeks ago in Bulawayo, a sign some depicted as a bad omen for the party.

Zanu PF proceeded to use the conference to endorse President Robert Mugabe as its official candidate in forthcoming elections, despite the 87-year-old being reported to be of ill-health and having lost elections to rival Morgan Tsvangirai in 2008.

Hero designation has always been in the hands of the ZANU-PF Politburo, though non-Zanu PF parties have recently demanded that the designation process be made more inclusive to reflect the multi-party political reality.