BULAWAYO – The statue of the late Vice-President Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo will be erected in about two weeks’ time at the intersection of 8th Avenue and Main Street in Bulawayo.
The statue was first erected in 2010 but was removed under the cover of darkness when the Nkomo family, pressure groups and residents of Bulawayo complained that the statue was too small and did not resemble the late Vice President
In an interview yesterday, the director of National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ), Dr Godfrey Mahachi said the Government has since acquired the required material.
“We are on the final stages as far as work on the erection of the statue of the late Vice-President Dr Joshua Nkomo is concerned. All the necessary material has been sourced and it is being kept by the contractors at their workshop.
“The construction of a pedestal on which the statue would be mounted is complete and the contractors are now cladding the stone and we expect the statue to be mounted in the next two weeks or so,” said Dr Mahachi.
The statue is being kept at the Bulawayo History Museum.
He said the Government through NMMZ was working with the Bulawayo City Council to erect Dr Nkomo’s statue in memory of the late nationalist’s works and contributions before and after independence.
Sibangilizwe Nkomo, the son of the late Joshua Nkomo said the family was not aware of the latest moves to re-erect the statue.
“I haven’t heard anything and I have not received any information from those in charge of that project,” said Nkomo.
“I am still not satisfied with that statue and I do not know how others in the family feel about that issue.”
The controversial statue was designed by the North Koreans, known for their role in the Gukurahundi atrocities. North Korea trained the 5th Brigade which massacred over 20 000 people from Matabeleland and Midlands in the 1980s.
Nkomo said the North Korean built statue should be dumped and a new contract be given to a Zimbabwean to build a new statue. “That statue should be dumped next to Cecil John Rhodes’ statue and a Zimbabwean be offered a contract to do another statue,” said Nkomo.
