Joshua Nkomo Honoured Fourteen Years Later

Joshua Nkomo - 14 Years Later! Fourteen years after the demise of the founding father Dr Joshua Nkomo the government of Zimbabwe has finally decided to honor the man who was once described by the then Prime Minister of Zimbabwe as the” Father of dissidents” .The government must be commended for taking steps to honor the late nationalist hero because just thirty years ago it was inconceivable that Joshua Nkomo could and would be acknowledged as having contributed to the liberation of Zimbabwe . Thirty years ago in 1983 people would disappear for just wearing badges with the picture of Father Zimbabwe and many indeed vanished from the face of the earth for daring to wear any Father Zimbabwe paraphernalia especially badges or orange Father Zimbabwe -T shirts or white P.F t shirts. .Popular songs praising Nkomo by the Light Machine Gun Fire Choir were literally banned from the airwaves because at that time any association with Nkomo was association with dissidents .It is therefore commendable that some thirty years later Joshua Nkomo has being finally . It is befitting therefore that a street will be named after Joshua Nkomo and an airport has been built in honor of him fourteen years after his death .it is commendable that a statue is being erected fourteen years after his death .It must be noted however that that Nkomo deserved these honors and this is not a favour which the government is making for Nkomo ,his family ,the people of Matabeleland or Zimbabwe after all the man was even honoured by the African Union as one of the greatest icons in Africa . One wonders why it took so long or the man to be honoured when it took barely a year to rename almost all the major streets in the country in the late eighties .But nonetheless it is a commendable that a man who was once described as a “cobra in the house” is being honored in this way fourteen years after his death .Yes it is commendable that fourteen years after his death a man who was once described as a threat to national security is being honored today . It is in indeed inconceivable that a man who was accused of plotting to overthrow the government in 1982 and was unceremoniously sacked from government in 1982 is being honored today .Yes that very same Joshua Nkomo whose ZAPU properties including Magnet House ,Castle Arms and Snake Park were confiscated by the government is being celebrated today . Yes it is the same Joshua Nkomo whose car was attacked and shot at by ZANU P.F supporters in 1985 in Masvingo .It is the same Nkomo who was whisked out of the country by Makhathini Guduza in 1983 after his Pelandaba home was attacked by armed state agents who were baying for his blood .This is the same Nkomo who saw thousands of his supporters being detained and tortured at Stops Camp in Bulawayo and Bhalagwe near his rural home in Kezi ,with thousands being killed in Nkayi ,Tsholotsho and Lupane for merely associating with the man and his party .Yes it is it is indeed inconceivable that this man is being honored today .It is inconceivable but commendable that Joshua Nkomo is being honoured today . This same Nkomo signed the Unity Accord to save thousands of Matabeles from being slaughtered by the Fifth Brigade .Unity Day is therefore a day in which we should remember that a “ceasefire “was negotiated .It is also the day when we should not forget the thousands of Nkomo supporters who lie in mass graves and hundreds who disappeared for daring to belong to ZAPU ,ZIPRA and the thousands of orphans who up to today have no birth certificates because their parents just disappeared and death certificates where never issued . The statue will forever remind us of Joshua Nkomo’s indelible contribution to the liberation of Zimbabwe .It will remind us of his great entreupreunal and prophetic vision which saw him conceiving Ekusileni Hospital long before there was a health crisis in Zimbabwe .It will remind us of his contribution in helping to set up the National university of Science and Technology ,Nkulumane Shopping Complex and Entumbane Complex . Today millions of people are using Econet lines because Nkomo had the courage to defy those who denied Strive Masiyiwa a licence and on the day he became acting president he signed the necessary documents for Econet to get a license to operate in Zimbabwe . We will be forever reminded of these contributions but the statue ,the airport and Joshua Nkomo Street are also a memorial for thousands of his supporters whose graves are not known . Let the history books b re written to explain why he became Father Zimbabwe ,to explain that his people were not dissidents .Yes it is commendable that a statue has been erected in his honour ,an airport built in his honour and one street in the whole of Zimbabwe renamed after him but the truth should be told .It is the truth ,the whole truth and nothing but the truth that will set us free . Mayibuye! Dumisani Nkomo is a political commentator and Chief Executive Officer of Habakkuk Trust .He writes here in his personal capacity