The Sunday News
“I HAVE never abandoned hope that I might contribute to a reasonable solution to our national problems, by discussion rather than by confrontation. Sometimes it looks as though progress is possible; sometimes I have to fight back despair.”
These words, typical of a revolutionary, a visionary, a pacifist and a nationalist, were uttered by none other than the late Vice-President Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo in his book, The Story of My Life.
This week the nation comes together to celebrate the illustrious life of the late veteran nationalist and former Vice-President of the country.
He was viewed in most circles as the Father of the Nation, and credited with the ability of bringing Zimbabweans together. Dr Nkomo was a peacemaker par excellence.
His achievements, efforts, inspiration, and political contribution speak volumes of the kind of man he was.
As a nationalist, he led the internationalisation of the plight of black people of former Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. As a family man he kept his family intact even though at times he went for years in detention, as a unifier he together with President Mugabe signed the Unity Accord in 1987 and as a leader he diligently led the nation as the Vice-President until the time of his departure.
Dr Nkomo was also a notable empowerment guru who supported the establishment of Econet Wireless by Strive Masiyiwa. Other attributes identifiable with Dr Nkomo are that of peacemaker and spiritual leader.
However, as the nation, on Wednesday, remembers the contributions this great man made to this country as a whole, the question that comes to most people’s minds is; do the current leaders fit into the attributes of the late Father Zimbabwe? What would things be like if Dr Nkomo was still alive?
The country has in the past few years been faced with a number of problems, politically and economically, yet the question remains, to what strides would the nation have taken was Dr Nkomo still alive?
After all has been said, the major question then becomes; how was Dr Nkomo like as a leader, what are the attributes that made him to be the leader he was, both in the war front and after independence?
Sunday News took the opportunity to interview various politicians, elders and former PF Zapu cadres to try get their opinions on this broad subject.
It is fitting to note that many people are of the view that leaders from the region should come together in unity; take a cue from Dr Nkomo and push for issues of development rather than fostering division in the nation.
Zanu-PF spokesperson Cde Simon Khaya Moyo said Dr Nkomo was a visionary leader even during his times in the liberation struggle, a feat which he said everyone should emulate for the development of the nation.
“There is no denying the kind of leader Dr Nkomo was, his work speaks for itself, he was a visionary leader, one whose goal from the start was to unify and empower the nation.
“During my years working with Dr Nkomo I learnt quite a lot from the way he would lead, even during difficult times, which is why up to this day we continue reflecting on his leadership skills and his overall vision for development,” said Cde Khaya Moyo.
Veteran freedom fighter and former Deputy Minister of Manpower Planning and Development, Cde Jane Ngwenya castigated people who were now using the name and legacy of Dr Nkomo to further their own mischievous ends.
“A lot of people are sadly taking advantage of Dr Nkomo’s name to trick the region into following their principles, their western sponsors know that if you use Dr Nkomo’s name you have a leeway to the people from the region.
“Besides when you are a failure in life you will always use the name of someone to try and boost your profile, that’s the reason of the use of Dr Nkomo’s name. Some are even using the name of the late Chief Khayisa Ndiweni to gain favour from people from that district.
“What you should note is that when those people are cheered at a rally the people won’t be cheering them but the name Nkomo,” said the war veteran.
She said, unlike all these other political parties and movements that were emerging, Dr Nkomo would not have been bought easily by people who only wanted to squander the country’s resources.
“Some are also trying to bring up the issue of Gukurahundi. While we know and appreciate that it is one event that brought pain to the region, Dr Nkomo tried to solve the issue by the signing of the Unity Accord.
“He knew that if the nation continued in that state, people would not enjoy the gains of independence thus Dr Nkomo was forward looking, not these people who are obviously backward looking and don’t want anything good for this nation,” said Cde Ngwenya.
She said people should stop using the name and legacy of the late Vice-President to try and mislead people.
Zanu-PF stalwart and renowned educationist Dr Sikhanyiso Ndlovu said while Dr Nkomo was a great leader worth emulating, people from the region should take advantage of there being such exemplary figures and focus on moulding the few leaders in the region to ensure that they lead the region and the nation as a whole as the late Vice-President had done.
He said there was a need for regional leaders to come together and empower each other to reach Dr Nkomo’s status instead of continuously fighting one another.
“There is a need for regional leaders to move away from this politics of denouncement to that of development, we are sick and tired of these leaders who just come to the region and simply want to destroy other leaders, what type of leadership is that?
“What you should note is we have leaders in Matabeleland, the likes of the Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko. All that we need to do is, if we feel they are lagging behind in certain spheres, come together and push them to reach standards set by Dr Nkomo. As the old adage goes, ‘to be a great leader one should climb on the shoulders of other great leaders’. Even Dr Nkomo himself used to seek other people’s assistance and advice in his leadership,” said Dr Ndlovu.
He said there was a growing tendency in the region whereby small parties were established and used Dr Nkomo’s name to gain political mileage.
“The question that has remained unanswered is why has Matabeleland become a dumping site for all new political parties and why do they all come in the name of the late Dr Nkomo.
“As Matabeleland we are a small region but if we as the leaders of the region come together we have the capacity to reach heights that we thought impossible,” said Dr Ndlovu.
Former Bulawayo mayor and disability rights activist Cde Joshua Malinga said the key to the whole question was unity. He said while Dr Nkomo was a great leader there was a need for the region and the country as a whole to emulate him in issues to do with nation building.
“We definitely need a leader in the mould of Dr Nkomo all the time, someone with the capability of single handedly unifying a nation.
“A leader has to speak for his/her people, if a leader does not know the problems of his or her people then there is no solution at all. My call to the current leadership is that we unite across party lines and focus on developing the nation by all means. This is what Dr Nkomo would have done,” said Cde Malinga.
He noted that unity and development were two terms that worked hand in hand.
“When you look at basic examples like King Mzilikazi you realise that he built a nation out of unity that’s why you find that every tribe was represented in the Ndebele kingdom; be it Shona, Sotho or Kalanga and when you look at that kingdom it was by all means successful,” said Cde Malinga.
Veteran politician and former deputy president of the Senate, Cde Naison Kutshwekhaya Ndlovu said one attribute of Dr Nkomo that he would always respect was that of being a visionary and the ability to always plan ahead when making crucial decisions.
He said through this he managed to foresee that the only way the nation was going to develop was if the people were united thus the signing of the Unity Accord in 1987.
“That man (Dr Nkomo) was a visionary, he planned ahead, ensuring that whatever move made would be beneficial to the nation as a whole in the future. Take the example of the signing of the Unity Accord in 1987 together with President Mugabe; he knew that through unity they could achieve development and prosperity for the nation.
“What is important is that we have to use unity as the cornerstone of development not only in the region but the whole nation. When we talk outside unity we are not being sincere to this broad issue of development,” said Cde Ndlovu.
He noted that proof that unity was key to the nation was that the West had come in wanting to destroy this unity by sponsoring opposition parties aimed at infiltrating this unity and destroying it from within.
“The West are very much aware that the destruction of this unity will definitely mean the destruction of the whole nation as a whole which is what our imperialists so dearly want,” he said.
Cde Ndlovu said it was essential that whoever wanted or aspired to be leader should aim at achieving what Dr Nkomo and President Mugabe achieved.
“Every leader must set themselves to achieve and emulate what Dr Nkomo and President Mugabe did, because with unity these great leaders knew that anything was possible, development and prosperity being among those attributes.
“It is very important that as leaders we plan ahead as these two great leaders did. This will surely spell out prosperity for the nation as a whole,” noted Cde Ndlovu.
After all is said and done it is an agreeable fact that Dr Nkomo was a respectable figure in the country.
He, together with President Mugabe, united a nation that was largely divided and led it like every wise leader would.
The main call is for all leaders to emulate the works of this great man, unite the nation and lead it to even more prosperous times.
Father Zimbabwe, as most Zimbabweans call him, was born in Kezi district on 17 June 1918 and was the country’s Vice President at the time of his death on 1 July 1999.
After leading Zapu and its predecessor, National Democratic Party (NDP), and playing a pivotal role in the 17-year liberation struggle and in uniting the country since 1987, it was but a natural call for the name Father Zimbabwe to be instated on this titanic and iconic figure in our national history and heritage.
Dr Nkomo played an immense role in liberating the country from white oppressors; he was notably one of the first, if not the first, individuals to take up the struggle for liberating the country as a full time occupation, literally abandoning his family all in the name of nationalism.
He is ranked alongside some of Africa’s great leaders inclusive of the late Ghana President Kwame Nkrumah; the late Mozambican President Samora Machel; Democratic Republic of Congo (then Zaire) founding President, the late Patrice Lumumba; former South African President, the late Nelson Mandela and former Zambian President Dr Kenneth Kaunda.
Writing in his book, The Story of My Life, Dr Nkomo sums up this issue when he says; “I am a Zimbabwean patriot and an African patriot too. I refuse to accept that we cannot do better than we have so far done . . . It is up to us to do better now.”
