Zapu, Zipra mourn Nkomo

Zapu and Zipra have said the death of Mafela Trust director Zephaniah Nkomo has dealt a blow to efforts to rewrite the true history of the party which used to be led by the late vicepresident Joshua Nkomo

Nkomo (70) died last Sunday at a private hospital in Bulawayo due to Covid-19-related complications and was buried at the Bulawayo Provincial Heroes Acre in Nkulumane on Thursday.

He was the records keeper and researcher of Zipra and Zapu history.

Zapu spokesperson Iphithule Maphosa said Nkomo was instrumental in trying to re-create the party records which were destroyed by government at the height of the Gukurahundi atrocities in the 1980s before the Unity Accord between Zanu PF and PF Zapu.

“As evidenced by the high mortality of Zipra and Zapu cadres, it has never been an easy task recollecting the history. No matter how diligent Cde Nkomo was, nothing could ever beat the original archives that were forcibly taken by the Gukurahundists at Shake Shake (Zanu PF) building, where we have since established our records are stashed in the basement," Maphosa said.

"The passing of Nkomo only makes an already hard and unfinished job more difficult. We were banking on his experience, connections, dedication and hard work. We, however, will soldier on without him as the Mafela Trust remains and we will continue from where he left."

Zipra Veterans Association secretary-general Petros Sibanda said they were mourning that their key member had departed and hoped that he was being considered as a national hero.

"Deaths still continue to haunt our comrades. Many of our comrades are sick and we feel the government must do something,” he said.

“Comrades must not be sick and get killed by the flu-like virus when there is a government to take care of them. We also realise that when the comrades die, the families have challenges and we appeal for all these problems to be sorted when comrades are alive so that families do not struggle when they are gone."

Matabeleland Forum said Nkomo's death was a great loss to the nation as he held valuable information about how the country was liberated .