Joshua Nkomo's Contribution to the struggle for freedom

When the iconic Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo died on the 1st of July 1999, the generality of Matabeleland felt demobilised, further isolated and wondering if it would ever achieve peace in Zimbabwe. Father Zimbabwe, as Dr Nkomo was affectionately known, was no more. The face of the struggle for freedom and self determination had been erased. This is the day that defines the demise of the people of Matabeleland and Zimbabwe. The day of the clear sky that gave way to the dark cloud in our history. The day that signaled the end of an era and the commencement of another one of the reincarnation of Matabeleland.

We mourn his death but celebrate his life; the life of struggle, servant leadership, humility and respect for everyone regardless of their creed. The life of blindness to race, ethnic orientation, tribe, gender and geographic origin.

Despite being betrayed, segregated and discriminated against on the basis of tribe by his erstwhile comrades during the struggle for Zimbabwe's liberation and beyond, Dr Nkomo  vehemently refused to adopt the same against his primitive political opponents who chose to use their medievalistic machinery of tribalism against him and PF ZAPU. Being ably in control of one of the most powerful and disciplined guerilla armies in Africa in the form of ZIPRA, Dr Nkomo could have effortlessly hit back at his opponents and spilt innocent blood, but refused to be drawn into such. The peace-loving Dr Nkomo also directly suffered immeasurable ridicule from the tribally-oriented Robert Mugabe but always exercised restraint, defining the iconic agent of peace he was. This and other many aspects of Father Zimbabwe unequivocally define him as one of the greatest human beings and an unparalleled unifier Zimbabwe has ever had.

Inescapably, we derive a lot of invaluable lessons from Dr Nkomo including the avoidance of the danger of adopting the ills of our headless political opponents who are devoid of fair play in the totality of their lives. The fact that he dedicated his whole life to the struggle for black majority rule should say something to the youth of today who willingly outsource their struggle to third party individuals or organizations.

In its quest for the restoration of the dignity and respect of all the people of Matabeleland regardless of whatever creed, the Freedom Alliance is overwhelmingly inspired by the positive example of Dr Joshua Nkomo. Our bias towards unity in diversity is congruent to the ideals and pursuits of the heroic, Father Zimbabwe. We believe that as a human being, he could not always be a flawless decision maker but where he did well, we appreciate and emulate him while respectfully learning from his challenging experiences.

We greatly appreciate Dr Joshua Nkomo for his selfless ignition of our struggle for freedom whose flame still burns today. He drew an indelible line for our continued fight for freedom from tribal oppression and subjugation in Matebeleland.

We shall forever remain inspired and appreciative.


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