The Sunday News
LAST Friday 1 July marked the 17th anniversary of the death of Zimbabwean Vice-President Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo. Sunday News Senior Reporter Robin Muchetu caught up with the Minister of State for Provincial Affairs in Bulawayo Cde Nomthandazo Eunice Moyo who narrated her experiences with the late VP whom she described as a true son of the soil, a dedicated hero who sacrificed his personal dignity and ego for the sake of peace and unity that Zimbabweans are enjoying today. Below is an excerpt of the interview in her own words.
I joined the struggle in 1975 and I was about 29 or 30 at that time. I first went to the then German Demoractic Republic (GDR) then returned to Zambia where I had military training at Solwezi Camp. After that I was deployed to the Zapu Headquarters in Zambia that is where I had interaction with the late Vice-President as I worked in his office.
I worked as an administrator in his office under the leadership of the late Cde John Nkomo who was the senior administrator. It is through those offices that I came to interact with Dr Nkomo. He was a person who was full of understanding. He understood the problems of the people and assisted them in all means possible.
He was also a leader who worked well with fellow leaders in the party. Many times he came across a lot of undesirable things that I cannot talk about because they bring pain and sad memories, they are in the past, but the fact remains that we saw him suffering.
Things like the post-independence disturbances that brought unrest to the people of Matabeleland and Midlands occurred but he saw it fit to sacrifice his ego as a leader so that people would live in peace. He had to meet President Mugabe and they made a peace agreement (Unity Accord of 1987) which is still functional today. We thank Baba Nkomo because it brought peace to the Matabeleland and Midlands regions and I am happy that President Mugabe has managed to maintain the peace. Many people were troubled by the events of that time, we are happy that Nkomo intervened and solved the matter, we hope that the peace prevails just as Cde Nkomo wanted it to.
When President Mugabe came to Bulawayo for the commissioning of the upgrade of the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport and the statue in honour of Cde Nkomo, he emphasised a lot about unity. The President said he was following what Dr Nkomo said, he said VPs should be appointed in accordance with what Dr Nkomo had called for, there was trouble with the election as we saw that there was dictatorship that was now taking place. Other people now wanted to tell the Ndebele people who they should vote for who were not Zanu or Zapu people and we as people who were there and associated with the late Dr Nkomo felt that the VP should also come from our end (Midlands and Matabeleland) and we should have a say in the selection process of the candidate.
It will always be like that, it will always be people from Zipra and Zapu who will have a name and assist the President in coming up with the best candidate for the VP’s post although the final say will be from the President. It is just like what Baba Nkomo wanted it to be and you see Cde Phelekezela Mphoko was chosen as he is a former Zipra combatant. I am glad that the President recognises this fact; we are hoping that whenever there are issues like that they will be looked at using the same criteria.
Other people now want to speak a different language. I don’t really care what they say but we are keeping Dr Nkomo’s legacy alive, we will not change it. It’s so difficult to have one good memory about Baba Nkomo because there are many good memories about the fallen giant while at the same time there were some bad ones too.
I had a pleasant time when I travelled with him to Brussels in Belgium to meet leaders of African countries who were supporting Zapu at that time, to me that was one of the best moments that I heard him talking about Zimbabwe in depth. I also got to learn a lot about the country too. His intelligence about the cause we were fighting for was deep, he knew what we wanted —independence and our wealth. That alone gave me so much information about Zimbabwe that we not only wanted independence from the white settlers but we also needed economic freedom in terms of the wealth that the colonisers were after. That was what we really wanted, they could not just take away all our companies that were into agriculture and mining. I learnt all this from Nkomo. That was one of my first best moments with him.
On the other hand my not so good moments, though all in the past now like I said, were when he suffered before the signing of the Unity Accord, a lot of people were detained including myself and those were bitter moments. He was harassed and I remember we once put him into hiding. I would cook food for him at my house and deliver it to him at a secret place as people were not supposed to know his whereabouts. Those are the painful times that we think of but it is all in the past and we want our children to grow in a peaceful atmosphere. The Entumbane debacle also caused a lot of pain but it is all in the past. I tell my children all these things and they wonder how I made it but this is what teaches us forgiveness.
During the war there were times when the whites would bomb us and it was terrible because we had no clue if we were going to make it. It was the worst life any human being could live as we had to keep on our toes as we could be killed anytime. I remember when we went to the Victory Camp (VC) after the bombings, it was chaotic, and some of us who were in offices survived but it was painful for those that were in the battle front.
The war was not easy, this is why you see today some war veterans fighting with people and having outbursts, we have to understand them and where they are coming from. We have to sympathise with them and work with them, when you speak of events that other people do not know about and did not experience they do not understand you. Some people take it lightly that others went to war but it is not a light issue at all. It was a matter of life or death.
War veterans are so genuine in their cause, they sacrificed their lives, endured hardships and some died so that we could live peacefully today and it is not good that they are insulted and belittled. Yes, they are poor because they did not get the chance to get education and decent jobs, even their children did not get a chance to lead better lives. These people must be respected in all ways possible.
Looking at the projects that were left behind by Baba Nkomo, my wish is that they are well maintained and taken up and not vanish just like that. We want his name to live on because he fought for this country and led the army that fought for our liberation. All things that carry his name should be treasured, like the Ekusileni Hospital, it pains me that there is no direction as to where it is heading to, I pray that one day it will move in the right direction just as he would have wanted it to be like.
There are many projects that he started and some that we are still looking into. We hope his legacy lives on in light of the projects that he initiated for a better Zimbabwe.
- @NyembeziMu
