News / National
MDC-T blasts Mnangagwa over Tsvangirai hero status snub
19 Feb 2018 at 00:54hrs | Views
MDC-T Bulawayo spokesperson, Felix Mafa Sibanda has blasted the government for not according his late boss, Morgan Tsvangirai national hero's status.
Sibanda's remarks came in the wake of President Emmerson Mnangagwa's announcement that the government will only give Tsvangirai a State-assisted funeral.
"Should we look to and expect thieves and murderers to say: 'Yes, indeed Morgan Tsvangirai was a hero?' The same people, whose thievery and murderous associations Tsvangirai fought and opposed. You can't give Tsvangirai national hero status because he already has it," he said.
Sibanda said Tsvangirai was a national hero to most Zimbabweans.
"You can't make him a hero because he already is one. So, whether you call him one or not, it has little to no effect. Ten people can sit down and decide Tsvangirai is not a national hero. But millions, without even meeting, agreed Tsvangirai is a national hero.
"There is a prestigious heroes acre, built in the hearts of the people. This is where the loved ones like [the late Vice-President] Joshua Nkomo lie and this is where the memory of Tsvangirai will take its place. It is not where your physical remains are interred that makes you a hero," he said.
"It is where the memory of you is kept and how people will remember you that make you a hero. At the physical heroes' acre lies nothing but bones, polished tombs and grave stones. But in the hearts of people you will not find graves. You will find the dead alive, kept as treasure. For the most precious treasure is not kept under guard, lock and key, but in the heart, where the best thief in the world cannot break in to steal."
Tsvangirai, who died last Wednesday at a South African private medical centre after battling colon cancer for two years, will be laid to rest at his Buhera home tomorrow.
The provincial spokesperson said Tsvangirai will be buried with love and truth because he will be buried by people from every corner of the country.
"Like treasure, they bury him in their hearts, where there is no death because the heart, like the spirit, does not die. There, he is made alive…," Sibanda said.
The MDC has since its formation been questioning the criteria used by the government to confer Zanu-PF hero's status.
Sibanda's remarks came in the wake of President Emmerson Mnangagwa's announcement that the government will only give Tsvangirai a State-assisted funeral.
"Should we look to and expect thieves and murderers to say: 'Yes, indeed Morgan Tsvangirai was a hero?' The same people, whose thievery and murderous associations Tsvangirai fought and opposed. You can't give Tsvangirai national hero status because he already has it," he said.
Sibanda said Tsvangirai was a national hero to most Zimbabweans.
"You can't make him a hero because he already is one. So, whether you call him one or not, it has little to no effect. Ten people can sit down and decide Tsvangirai is not a national hero. But millions, without even meeting, agreed Tsvangirai is a national hero.
"It is where the memory of you is kept and how people will remember you that make you a hero. At the physical heroes' acre lies nothing but bones, polished tombs and grave stones. But in the hearts of people you will not find graves. You will find the dead alive, kept as treasure. For the most precious treasure is not kept under guard, lock and key, but in the heart, where the best thief in the world cannot break in to steal."
Tsvangirai, who died last Wednesday at a South African private medical centre after battling colon cancer for two years, will be laid to rest at his Buhera home tomorrow.
The provincial spokesperson said Tsvangirai will be buried with love and truth because he will be buried by people from every corner of the country.
"Like treasure, they bury him in their hearts, where there is no death because the heart, like the spirit, does not die. There, he is made alive…," Sibanda said.
The MDC has since its formation been questioning the criteria used by the government to confer Zanu-PF hero's status.
Source - newsday
