'Zimbabwe is cursed'

OPPOSITION Zapu leader has described Zimbabwe as a cursed nation because of bad politics since the country attained independence in 1980.

Sibangilizwe Nkomo, the son to the late nationalist Joshua Nkomo, said the country was suffering from many calamities due to several unresolved issues after independence.He also demanded the return of Zapu and Zipra records which were confiscated by the Zanu-PF government in the 1980s.

Nkomo, who did not contest the 2023 August elections due to the exorbitant fees charged by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec), said it was critical to interrogate or investigate issues affecting the country.

Zec pegged the fees for presidential candidates at US$20 000 while prospective legislators were expected to fork out US$1 000 as nomination fees.In a statement recently, Nkomo said: "The first step is for us to acknowledge and accept that we are a cursed nation. Since Biblical times, never before has a nation been visited by so many calamities."

He said some of the issues affecting the country included the tradition of stolen elections starting in 1980.He noted that issues such as droughts, road carnage, murder cases, veldfires and mining disasters as some of the challenges associated with unresolved political matters."Zanu was cursed and by extension brought its curse to our nation. This is because Zanu was built on a foundation of lies and false promises.  

"Today, the lies persist unfettered, powered by agents and prophets in the employ of Zanu (PF), whose duty is to perpetuate the lies and false promises to keep us in a state of blind faith, false hope and subordination," Nkomo said.

He added that the Gukurahundi genocide, which claimed over 20 000 lives in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces, also worsened the situation."I must hasten to say here that the Gukurahundi ideology and its modus operandi started in Morogoro, Tanzania where 45 ZPRA cadres were murdered by Zanu and its Chinese handlers or collaborators — their all-weather friends," Nkomo said.

"During the war of liberation, there were dozens upon dozens of liberation leaders and followers who were wilfully and callously eliminated by Zanu in Zambia, Mozambique and here at home."

Nkomo said the curse was finally sealed when the Gukurahundi genocide was committed in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces, targeting unarmed, defenceless and innocent civilians.

"For 60 years, we have had the misfortune of being led by such leaders which has affected the direction and life of Zimbabwe as a nation. "People have been murdered and political leaders assassinated. Citizens have disappeared or in many cases displaced permanently and involuntarily scattered into the diaspora.

"Even some of those who were killed during the war for our liberation remain unaccounted for, because as a prelude to Gukurahundi, the Zanu government confiscated Zapu/ZPRA war records and concealed them."

He said the souls of the departed soldiers needed recognition and reburial.

"We demand the return of those records as much as we demand the return of our Zanu/ZPRA properties confiscated by government at the start of our freedomless independence. I dare say that Zimbabwe will never redeem herself until every single Zimbabwean is accounted for," he said.

Nkomo said while some of the country's leaders had openly claimed to have repented, there was next to nothing to show for that.