allAfrica.com: Zimbabwe: Chimoio Victims Remembered (Page 1 of 1)

Eight hundred Zimbabwean delegates are in Chimoio for a tour of former liberation war camps and shrines in honour of the country's gallant sons and daughters who were massacred by Rhodesian forces during the liberation struggle.

Thousands of Zimbabweans were massacred by Rhodesian forces at Chimoio on November 23, 1977. The delegation - led by Deputy Minister of Youth Development and Employment Creation Cde Saviour Kasukuwere - includes the Minister of State for National Security, Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement, Cde Diydmus Mutasa; the Minister of Women's Affairs, Gender and Community Development, Cde Oppah Muchinguri; and Manicaland Provincial Governor Cde Tinaye Chigudu.

Other delegates include members of the Zanu-PF Youth and Women's Leagues, Government and other ruling party officials. Cde Kasukuwere yesterday said all logistics were in place and the delegation would tour the shrine, camps and mass graves today. He said the turnout was pleasing and it signified youths' commitment to learn more about the country's history. "We want our youths to be politically conscious especially in these trying times. We want them to emulate and appreciate as well as jealously safeguard what their sisters and brothers died for," he said. Zanu-PF has over the past years organised pilgrimages as a way of paying tribute to those who perished in the attack. The former liberation camps and shrines are in Nyadzonia and Choimoio, Mozambique, as well as in Zambia, which served as a base for Zipra fighters. Similar visits to Zambia have also been undertaken in the past. The visits to Mozambique coincides with Independence Day celebrations scheduled for Gwanzura Stadium in Highfield, Harare, today.

Thousands of people are expected to converge at the stadium where President Mugabe will officiate. Provincial governors will preside over commemorations in their respective provinces. The main celebrations were moved to Gwanzura because the traditional venues - Rufaro and the National Sports stadiums - are being refurbished. Many have said the commemoration of the historic day in Highfield was symbolic since it used to be the hotbed of nationalist politics that led to the liberation struggle which gave birth to a free Zimbabwe on April 18, 1980.

It is also here that Zanu-PF was formed in 1963 at Cde Enos Nkala's house. Many nationalists, who include President Mugabe, the late George Nyandoro, Cde Nkala, the late Vice President Joshua Nkomo, the late Cde Herbert Chitepo, the late Cde Leopold Takawira and the late Cde Josiah Chinamano, among others, lived in the suburb as they executed the liberation struggle.

Just adjacent to Gwanzura is Zimbabwe Grounds, where President Mugabe held the historic homecoming rally on arrival from Mozambique on the eve of Zimbabwe's first democratic elections in 1980. A stone throw's away from the stadium is Mushandirapamwe Hotel where nationalists used to convene to strategise on how to execute the liberation struggle. At today's ceremony, people will be treated to breathtaking army drills like mock battles, drum majorettes, music and dance and a soccer match. The opposition has in the past snubbed these national events, a stance that has been roundly criticised.

When asked whether his party would attend today's commemoration, MDC-T spokesman Nelson Chamisa played down the event, saying independence commemoration was not about gathering although they respected the day.

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