Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo honoured

The late Vice-President, Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo has been honoured by the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport and a colossal statue to be unveiled by President Mugabe in Bulawayo.

The $30 million Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport was opened to the public on November 1 and has the capacity to handle 1,5 million passengers per year.

In addition, the Main Street will now be renamed Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Street after Dr Nkomo who died on July 1, 1999 and was accorded National Hero status.  

The honours coincide with Unity Day commemorations and Minister of State for Bulawayo Province, Eunice Nomthandazo Moyo said honouring Dr Nkomo was an early Christmas gift for the people of Bulawayo.

"First, I want to thank the President for his desire to honour Nkomo and to show people how he regarded the man and his efforts to maintain unity.

"The honours clearly show that Nkomo was held in high esteem by the State and the Government. It shows that Nkomo was a great man. It is proper for his legacy to be preserved.

"The programme is highly appropriate and also shows how united we are as a nation, that we can put aside our differences and honour a great leader.

"To me, it is also suitable that we have chosen to honour him on 22 December, which is Unity Day. If it were not for him and President Mugabe, there would be no harmony in Zimbabwe."

Mrs Thandiwe Nkomo-Ibrahim, Dr Nkomo's daughter, said everything was in place to honour her father and revealed that the Nkomo family appreciated Government's efforts to honour 'Father Zimbabwe'.

"As a family, we are ready for the official opening of the airport, the unveiling of the statue as well as the renaming of Main Street. We are humbled by what the people of Zimbabwe are doing for our father," she said.

"However, this honour is not just for us (the Nkomo family), it is for every Zimbabwean. Ubaba was their father as well."

Zanu-PF Bulawayo provincial chairperson Professor Callistus Ndlovu said it was appropriate that the Unity Day commemorations coincide with honouring Dr Nkomo.

"It was VP Nkomo who signed the Unity Accord with President Mugabe in 1987. Therefore, it is appropriate that as we celebrate unity, we honour Umdala Wethu," he said.

"Zanu-PF Bulawayo province is humbled to host the main Unity Day celebrations and we are happy that the day has been chosen to honour the legacy of VP Nkomo."

Joshua Nkomo National Foundation chief executive officer Mr Jabulani Hadebe said the official opening of the state-of-the-art airport, the unveiling of the statue and the renaming of Main Street were honours befitting Dr Nkomo.

"It is just sad that we did not honour him in his lifetime, but his legacy will live on. The honours he is receiving are just the beginning, it will be a continuous process. We are hoping that soon schools, libraries and roads in other cities will be named after him.

Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi said all was in place for the unveiling of the statue.

Dr Nkomo's statue was mounted in 2010 and pulled down before its official unveiling after Bulawayo residents and the Nkomo family complained that the dimensions of the initial pedestal did not capture the attributes of the late Father Zimbabwe in full.