News / National
'Dumiso Dabengwa died a bitter man'
25 May 2021 at 07:11hrs | Views
ZAPU acting president Isaac Mabuka says his predecessor and late liberation hero Dumiso Dabengwa died whilst still bitter about his lengthy jailing by then State leader Robert Mugabe despite being cleared by the courts for an alleged plot against the country's former ruler in the early 1980s.
Mabuka was speaking Sunday during a low-key event held at the Dabengwa family graveyard in Ntabazinduna on the outskirts of Bulawayo.
Dabengwa died on May 23, 2019 in Nairobi, Kenya on his way back home from India where he had undergone medical treatment for a liver tumour.
He was declared a national hero but was buried at his family graveyard in Ntabazinduna.
Speaking at the commemorations, Mabuka described the late politician and former government minister as a brave man.
"When Zapu broke away from Zanu-PF in 2008, a lot of us were afraid of harassment but Dabengwa stood his ground and spearheaded the congress which led to the formal separation of Zapu and Zanu-PF," he said.
"Dabengwa also died a bitter man because of the suffering which he endured while detained in prison with the late ZIPRA Commander Lookout Masuku."
The acting Zapu president also slammed Zanu-PF and MDC-T MPs for joining hands to pass the controversial Constitutional Amendment Number 2 Bill which was later signed into substantive law by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
The law scraps the running mate clause from the national charter, mandatory public interviews for judges as well as extend their terms of office after reaching the retirement age of 70 years.
"It is wrong to have a Constitution which allows only one person to appoint judges or cabinet ministers.
"This type of law can be easily abused. If such a law is passed, what can stop the individual leader to appoint his kinsmen or friends into these positions!
"This is not what the late Dabengwa and some of us war veterans fought for," said Mabuka.
The event was attended by two of the party's presidential aspirants in late State Vice President Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo's son Sibangilizwe as well as current treasurer-general Mark Mbaiwa.
Mbaiwa accused Zanu-PF of destroying the economy.
"Zanu-PF has destroyed our beautiful country through mismanagement and corruption.
"The people of Zimbabwe are all suffering because of Zanu-PF," he said.
Zapu is set to hold its elective congress in August this year after the event was postponed numerous times due to Covid-19 induced government restrictions on political gatherings.
The congress will elect a new leadership.
Mabuka was speaking Sunday during a low-key event held at the Dabengwa family graveyard in Ntabazinduna on the outskirts of Bulawayo.
Dabengwa died on May 23, 2019 in Nairobi, Kenya on his way back home from India where he had undergone medical treatment for a liver tumour.
He was declared a national hero but was buried at his family graveyard in Ntabazinduna.
Speaking at the commemorations, Mabuka described the late politician and former government minister as a brave man.
"When Zapu broke away from Zanu-PF in 2008, a lot of us were afraid of harassment but Dabengwa stood his ground and spearheaded the congress which led to the formal separation of Zapu and Zanu-PF," he said.
"Dabengwa also died a bitter man because of the suffering which he endured while detained in prison with the late ZIPRA Commander Lookout Masuku."
The acting Zapu president also slammed Zanu-PF and MDC-T MPs for joining hands to pass the controversial Constitutional Amendment Number 2 Bill which was later signed into substantive law by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
The law scraps the running mate clause from the national charter, mandatory public interviews for judges as well as extend their terms of office after reaching the retirement age of 70 years.
"This type of law can be easily abused. If such a law is passed, what can stop the individual leader to appoint his kinsmen or friends into these positions!
"This is not what the late Dabengwa and some of us war veterans fought for," said Mabuka.
The event was attended by two of the party's presidential aspirants in late State Vice President Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo's son Sibangilizwe as well as current treasurer-general Mark Mbaiwa.
Mbaiwa accused Zanu-PF of destroying the economy.
"Zanu-PF has destroyed our beautiful country through mismanagement and corruption.
"The people of Zimbabwe are all suffering because of Zanu-PF," he said.
Zapu is set to hold its elective congress in August this year after the event was postponed numerous times due to Covid-19 induced government restrictions on political gatherings.
The congress will elect a new leadership.
Source - newzimbabwe
