News / National
Zipra remembers snubbed heroes
09 Aug 2017 at 12:50hrs | Views
AFTER realising that most ex-liberators who fought on the Zipra front were not being recognised by the ruling Zanu-PF during the annual Heroes Day celebrations, Zipra has come up with an initiative to remember its unsung own.
The party, in conjunction with pressure group Ibhetshu Likazulu, is planning to hold a commemoration, which will be led by the former Zipra liberators.
The August 14 event will see the laying of wreaths on graves of fallen Zipra heroes and heroines at Lady Stanley cemetery in Bulawayo.
After that, there will be a march to Stanley Square where the commemorations will take place under the theme "unsung heroes".
Zipra war veterans' national secretary, Petros Sibanda, said they were motivated by the party veterans' role in the struggle.
"If you look at how our role in the liberation struggle is portrayed in the local history, it appears as if Zanla played a major role in liberating this country.
Even at the heroes celebration nothing much is said about us so we are just saying let's make our history clear," he said.
Ibhetshu Likazulu secretary-general Mbuso Fuzwayo said it was never too late to honour some of the fallen heroes, whose liberation roles were ignored by Zanu-PF.
"We are convinced that time has come for us as a nation to celebrate all the people that have made sacrifices for this country both in pre and post-independence Zimbabwe," he said.
"We believe that the past and current narrow and questionable definition of our heroes on a thin political line is not helpful and seeks to distort our history and mislead our current and future generations on what constitutes a proper hero," he said.
As a result, Fuzwayo said until today, it does not make sense to them and the people of Matabeleland that the former Zipra army commander Lookout Masuku was buried at Lady Stanley cemetery.
"This is what we are challenging today, and we want our children and the next generation to know the truth about the true history of this country.
"We can't have people like Border Gezi lying at Heroes Acre yet people like Masuku who had their history in the liberation struggle overlooked," he said.
"We wish to state our commitment to contribute to the proper definition of a hero. Heroes like Masuku, Swazini Ndlovu, Masala Sibanda and Charles Grey among others deserve a better honour considering their role in liberating this country," Fuzwayo said.
The party, in conjunction with pressure group Ibhetshu Likazulu, is planning to hold a commemoration, which will be led by the former Zipra liberators.
The August 14 event will see the laying of wreaths on graves of fallen Zipra heroes and heroines at Lady Stanley cemetery in Bulawayo.
After that, there will be a march to Stanley Square where the commemorations will take place under the theme "unsung heroes".
Zipra war veterans' national secretary, Petros Sibanda, said they were motivated by the party veterans' role in the struggle.
"If you look at how our role in the liberation struggle is portrayed in the local history, it appears as if Zanla played a major role in liberating this country.
Even at the heroes celebration nothing much is said about us so we are just saying let's make our history clear," he said.
Ibhetshu Likazulu secretary-general Mbuso Fuzwayo said it was never too late to honour some of the fallen heroes, whose liberation roles were ignored by Zanu-PF.
"We are convinced that time has come for us as a nation to celebrate all the people that have made sacrifices for this country both in pre and post-independence Zimbabwe," he said.
"We believe that the past and current narrow and questionable definition of our heroes on a thin political line is not helpful and seeks to distort our history and mislead our current and future generations on what constitutes a proper hero," he said.
As a result, Fuzwayo said until today, it does not make sense to them and the people of Matabeleland that the former Zipra army commander Lookout Masuku was buried at Lady Stanley cemetery.
"This is what we are challenging today, and we want our children and the next generation to know the truth about the true history of this country.
"We can't have people like Border Gezi lying at Heroes Acre yet people like Masuku who had their history in the liberation struggle overlooked," he said.
"We wish to state our commitment to contribute to the proper definition of a hero. Heroes like Masuku, Swazini Ndlovu, Masala Sibanda and Charles Grey among others deserve a better honour considering their role in liberating this country," Fuzwayo said.
Source - dailynews
