Founding Zimbabwe Peoples Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) commander Ackim Ndlovu was declared a national hero last week, despite living the life of a pauper after being neglected by government. Our correspondent Lionel Saungweme told us he met the 77 year old Ndlovu in Mpopoma in 2003 and he was battling high medical bills after losing his leg to cancer. His cZAPU also say they felt insulted the ZANU PF politburo only consulted amongst themselves to decide on his hero status. There was a delay in making the decision leading his family to make a decision to bury him at Lady Stanley Cemetery in Bulawayo. At the last minute ZANU PF buckled to pressure and declared him a national hero. Ackim Ndlovu is a hero of heroes who does not deserve to suffer the indignity of having to be vetted by people, some of whom were not even born when he started the armed struggle, a ZAPU statement read.
The partisan nature of conferring hero status has remained controversial to this day. Only last month veteran politician and MDC Chirumanzu Senator Patrick Kombayi, was over-looked for hero status, despite what his party felt was a huge contribution to the liberation war. ZAPU has also had the likes of its commander Lookout Masuku, Swazini Ndlovu, Masala Sibanda and Wilford Lizzat Sibanda, buried in Bulawayo instead of the national shrine. Even those accorded hero status like Clemence Muchachi, a top six member of ZAPU, suffered neglect just like Ndlovu. Muchachi for example was ferried to hospital in a scotch cart when he was ill.
But as is often the case, any liberation fighter who went against ZANU PF after independence automatically got over-looked for hero status. The most shocking decision to date was the refusal to acknowledge ZANU founder Ndabaningi Sithole as a national hero, after he later went into opposition politics. ZANU PF hid behind cooked up accusations that he had planned the assassination of Mugabe using landmines on a Harare road. He was sentenced to two years in prison, but died before serving any time in jail.
The MDC have since February this year been calling for the unity government to make all decisions on hero status instead of ZANU PFs politburo. Hero status must be conferred by an all-stakeholders’ body with no single subjective interest in the conferment of such national status on any individual, the party said in a statement.
Post published in: News