Anger over delays in honouring Joshua Nkomo

By Stanford Chiwanga and Vusumuzi Dube

THIRTEEN years after the death of Vice-President Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo (left) architectural tributes that are being constructed to celebrate the life and times of Father Zimbabwe are yet to be completed, a situation that makes a mockery of his unparalleled contribution to the liberation and development of Zimbabwe.

The project to erect his gigantic statue between Main Street and 8th Avenue in Bulawayo has been met with a catalogue of obstacles, which have held back efforts to stand the figurine in city centre.

Delays in the procurement of building material, lack of finances and bureaucracy have seen the deadline for the completion of the construction of the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Airport being shifted on numerous times.

The proposal to rename Main Street to Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo has also remained on the drawing board without any indications as to when it will be done.

Ekusileni Medical Centre, a 369-bed hospital facility, which was built in honour of the late VP Nkomo in 2002, is still not operational 11 years on. The hospital briefly opened years ago but was promptly closed after it was discovered that equipment worth millions of dollars acquired by the institution was obsolete.

The failure to complete the construction of Dr Nkomo’s statue has been met with ever growing condemnation by a nation that believes Dr Nkomo, 13 years since his death, has not been glowingly honoured for his gallantry.

Bulawayo Provincial Governor and Resident Minister Cain Mathema said he was aware that people were now frustrated over the delay in the erection of the statue and the renaming of Main Street but revealed that it was not an issue of lack of political will but lack of funds.

“We were hoping that treasury avails the financial resources for that project to be completed, I know that people are bitter over the delay but they should just be patient, we are also working hard to see it finally completed.

“Government also wants that project as soon as possible because we are fully aware on the contributions made by the late Father Zimbabwe to this nation,” said Mathema.

The Governor, also the Zanu-PF deputy secretary for information and publicity, said the erection of the statue was a major priority for both the region and the entire nation and as such it is a must to have it concluded.

Zanu-PF provincial chairperson for Bulawayo Mr Killian Sibanda said while it was everyone’s concern that all projects done in honour of Dr Nkomo be completed, it was difficult for them to point out the exact problems causing the delays as these were national projects that were controlled by central Government.

“I concur with everyone that the delay in the completion of those projects is worrying but at the end of the day we are short-handed in pointing out the reasons for this delay because these projects are not provincial projects but national projects,” said Mr Sibanda.

Bulawayo Mayor, Councillor Thaba Moyo, said the renaming of Main Street was being held back by the Government’s failure to wrap up the statue project as the City Council wants the renaming to coincide with the erection of the statue.

“If the truth is told, Dr Nkomo was a great leader. He is not only a father to this nation but to all our politicians as it is my view that all politicians learnt something from his leadership.

“Considering all his contributions to this nation, I believe some seriousness is required with regards to such projects, as a council we passed the renaming resolution long back but are now waiting for that statue to be erected as the renaming is supposed to coincide with the unvieling of the statue,” said Clr Moyo.

The mayor said the delays in the erection of the statue had not been foreseen as people expected the project to be prioritised considering the status of Dr Nkomo.

MDC-N provincial spokesperson Mr Edwin Ndlovu said it was unfair that people continued to use Dr Nkomo’s name to gain political mileage but they were failing to complete the statue, which did not need much resources.

“Dr Nkomo made a lot of contributions to this nation but it is very unfair and unfortunate that we are failing to simply prioritise, instead of splashing money on politicking we could at least take a small fraction and ensure that such projects are completed on time,” said Mr Ndlovu.

Bulawayo United Residents Association (Bura) chairperson Mr Winos Dube said residents were disappointed at all the excuses that were being put forward on the eventually completion of the statue project.

He said they had since resolved to convene a special residents’ meeting where they would appoint a team mandated with approaching the governor’s and mayor’s office on the matter.

“We honestly have a lot of questions but very few answers. One thing we are, however, sure of is that everyone agrees that Dr Nkomo has to be honoured. It is the slow pace this honour is coming that is really worrying.

“The road is there. The site of the statue has been identified, then honestly what is taking this long for them to complete the whole project? If it is a game of politics then it is totally wrong and unacceptable,” said Mr Dube.

He said the late Vice-President was a man of the people and thus deserved all the honour the nation could accord him.

“Dr Nkomo did a sterling job for the nation both before independence and after, we cannot continue dilly-dallying with bestowing him with the honour that is why as residents, we will approach the governor, the mayor and any responsible authority to find out what really is going on,” said the residents’ chairperson. Sunday News