Kenny Ndlovu declared a liberation war hero

LIBERATION war hero Kenny Ndlovu, who spent more than 10 years as a political prisoner in Rhodesia, was laid to rest yesterday at the Provincial Heroes' Acre in Bulawayo.

During the burial, a Zanu-PF central committee member and some war veterans suggested that Ndlovu should have been declared a national hero.

Ndlovu, who at one time fought alongside Umkhonto WeSizwe veterans, died at his Old Lobengula home last Friday after succumbing to a stroke that he suffered in 2008.

In his speech at the grave site, a central committee member from Matabeleland South, Richard Ndlovu, said the late Liberation hero was detained for more than 10 years during the liberation struggle and deserved National Hero status.

He said he only got to know about his death through an article in The Chronicle and had to go for the burial at the Bulawayo Provincial Heroes Acre.

"I met Kenny Ndlovu during the early days of the struggle in the early 1960s. He spent 10 years at Khami Prison where he was a political prisoner along with other freedom fighters. They were then taken to Whawha Prison where they were detained again," he said.

"We appreciate his burial at this provincial monument. However, it does not do justice to his war credentials. He deserves to have been laid to rest at the National Heroes Acre. We are not happy even with the history that is documented about him. A lot of things have been left out from his biography and he is going without leaving his legacy of good deeds behind."

The central committee member said Ndlovu was released from prison in 1979 at Whawha along with other freedom fighters and members of the ANC military wing, Umkhonto WeSizwe.

Bulawayo War veterans' chairman Cephas Ncube said very little of Ndlovu's contributions were documented.

He said he deserved to be at the National Heroes Acre, but they had not made a recommendation for that. "So little is said about Kenny Ndlovu. Let us write our biographies properly while we are still alive so that we leave behind a legacy for our children to be proud of. With so little being said about our comrade, those who did not see him in the bush during the struggle do not get to fully appreciate his contribution. It is unfortunate that government is not assisting us as war veterans with these burials, we are struggling on our own," said Ncube.

In an interview, the Minister of Welfare Services for War Veterans, War Collaborators, Ex-Political Detainees and Restrictees, Retired Colonel Tshinga Dube, said many deserving liberation war veterans have not been declared National Heroes in the country.

"A lot of things are considered other than a person's war credentials. Many people who deserved to be buried at the National Heroes Acre were not buried there. We also have many people with questionable credentials who were accorded National Hero status. I cannot say much based on my own opinion, however, the Politburo recommends a person to be accorded National Hero Status. The President, however, has the final say," said the Minister.