The Sunday News
THE late former Vice-President Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo was a nationalist who changed the face of Zimbabwean politics, social and economic life, having made immense contributions to the country through various projects but none of them are as symbolic as Nuanetsi Ranch in Mwenezi.
Dr Nkomo facilitated the acquisition of Nuanetsi Ranch in Mwenezi under the Development Trust of Zimbabwe in 1989. It was meant to benefit Zimbabweans in sectors such as mining, agriculture and manufacturing.
However, what many don’t know is that Nuanetsi Ranch has a rich history behind it.
“When the white settlers arrested our father in 1964, they flew him to that area to Gonakudzingwa detention camp. He was tied to a big baobab tree and they left him there while they drank tea. My father said as he stood there he told himself that the farm was going to be one of the first farms they were going to repossess after independence,” Dr Nkomo’s eldest daughter, Mrs Thandiwe Nkomo Ebrahim, said.
Mrs Nkomo Ebrahim said the Nuanetsi Ranch has, however, since had a troubled history with thousands of cattle meant for the project having disappeared without a trace.
“I understand there were over 25 000 head of cattle at that ranch and amazingly a lot of them have been unaccounted for as some are feared to have been moved across the border, but we do not really know,” she said.
Mrs Nkomo Ebrahim said she was touched by this project as it had changed the lives of the people in that area as her father had actually cut off portions of the farm to resettle villagers.
“More people were resettled recently after the Tokwe Mukorsi floods. These are the kinds of things that my father wanted; he wanted the projects to help the people, not his family or himself,” she said.
The Nuanetsi Ranch is estimated to be around 862 000 acres in extent but not much is being realised from that area, which is a big let-down to the family.
The Zimbabwe Health Care trust which was formed by the late Father Zimbabwe in 1994 was meant to aid Mwenezi villagers in seeking treatment locally than having to go abroad.
“The trust was set up with a vision to cater for Zimbabweans who needed specialist treatment. Some Zimbabweans go and seek treatment outside the country which he was against. He once got ill and was taken to Egypt for treatment and he was furious that he was now separated from his family at a time when he needed them,” she said.
Dr Nkomo is said to have tried to figure out why many people were having to seek treatment abroad and discovered that the country was lacking in specialist doctors to treat the people and also the sophisticated diagnostic machinery.
The idea was to set up a specialist hospital in each province and the flagship was the Joshua Nkomo Ekusileni Hospital in Bulawayo.
His objectives for the trust was not for commercial gain or to make personal profits but was established to offer specialist services for the people of Zimbabwe.
Being a father of the nation, Dr Nkomo sourced funding towards the construction of the hospital.
The hospital was shut down after operating for a few months and the reopening has been marred by a variety of challenges ranging from economic sanctions to the outdated machinery. It’s however set to open next month.
“The reopening will be done in stages and I am happy that it is a step forward in realising the old man’s dreams and we are hoping to move to another province and build another hospital,” said Mrs Nkomo Ebrahim.
Another one of Dr Nkomo’s brilliant ideas to help the people of Zimbabwe was the tomato canning project which has had machinery lying idle for over 20 years at Balu Estate in Umguza.
Mrs Nkomo Ebrahim said the project was so big that it had the capacity to supply the whole of the Sadc region but due to unforeseen events some of the machinery still remains unused.
The tomato canning project will be moved to a warehouse in Esigodini where it is expected to resume operations soon.
It is also not clear what happened to over 500 dairy cows that were once at Balu Estate.
A similar project was also set up in Norton and operated for a short while before shutting down.
The equipment includes storage tanks, piping material, farming equipment such as tractors and combine harvesters.
The late Dr Nkomo’s vision when he acquired the machinery was to have local farmers grow tomatoes and have them canned at the estate. This would have been in tandem with the country’s current economic blueprint, Zim Asset, on beneficiation.
“These projects are just a tip of the iceberg that my father had and there were many others that he had but due to the situation prevailing at that time they never saw the light of day,” said Mrs Nkomo Ebrahim.
The Nkomo family, Mrs Nkomo Ebrahim said, would be happy if these projects could still be picked up and come to fruition.
“These things at Balu had been sitting in the sun for 20 years thrown out like that. Most of the equipment has not been used not because it has been impossible but because of problems outside economic challenges and the people handling the issues,” Mrs Nkomo Ebrahim said.
On the brighter side, Mrs Nkomo Ebrahim said the family set up a museum at Dr Nkomo’s home in Matsheumhlophe in an effort to preserve the work done by the revolutionary leader who carries with him a rich history that generations to come will see.
“The museum was set up to commemorate him and also to highlight some of his outstanding works,” she said.
“We are generally happy that our father was honoured but it took so long. There is no reason as to why it took so long because there is no argument to his role in all quarters as to his contribution in the liberation struggle of Zimbabwe. These are honours that should have been given without a lot of debate or negotiations behind the scenes.”
