BULAWAYO -- The family of the late national liberation struggle hero and Vice President, Joshua Nkomo, has appealed for funds to turn his former home into a museum in a bid to preserve his legacy. (Picture: Joshua Nkomo Family appeals for funds to turn his former home into a museum)Efforts to turn Nkomos Matshemhlohpe home in Bulawayo into a museum have been crippled by a lack of funds. The government is understood not to have contributed towards the project to convert the home of the late Umdala Wethu or Father Zimbabwe as Nkomo was known among Zimbabweans into a museum.
We are looking for donations for the construction of the museum, Thandi Nkomo, the daughter of the late Vice President said.
I do not have a specific figure as to how much is needed but the money runs into millions of United States dollars. If we get the funds, construction of the museum will be complete before the first quarter of 2010, she said.
Nkomo — the founder of modern Zimbabwean nationalism — died on 1 July in 1999 at the age of 82 after battling with prostrate cancer. However, ten years after his death a number of proposed projects aimed at preserving his legacy have failed to materialise.
Construction at the Joshua Mqabuko airport in Bulawayo stalled years after it began. Ekusileni Medical Centre, a brainchild of Nkomo, has failed to open its doors to the public years after its completion.
Plans to erect a statue of Nkomo have yet to come to fruition, while several other planned projects to honour his immense contributions to the national cause have accumulated dust on the drawing board or have been dumped altogether.
John Gazi, an ex commander with ZIPRA, the armed wing of Nkomos old PF-Zapu party said: In the next ten to 15 years, it will not be surprising if school kids when asked about the nations heroes they will only talk about criminals who grabbed farms in 2000 and not real heroes like Nkomo.
Nkomos Zapu was forced into a unity accord with President Robert Mugabes Zanu- (pf) party in 1987. Nkomo always argued that the agreement was necessary to stop the killing of thousands of innocent civilians in the countrys southern provinces where the armys notorious 5th Brigade was deployed ostensibly to flush out armed dissidents fighting to oust Mugabe from power.
The North Korean trained 5th Brigade ended up killing an estimated 20 000 civilians in the southern regions where the bulk of Nkomos supporters were based.
Post published in: News