FORMER liberation movement, Zapu\u2019s wartime intelligence supremo, Dumiso Dabengwa has blamed the \u201cpolitics in Zimbabwe\u201d for his party\u2019s failure to document its exploits during the struggle years.<\/p>\n
Dabengwa was keynote speaker at a commemoration event in Johannesburg South Africa to remember cooperation between Zapu and the ANC at the height of the liberation struggle.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe delay on more than four (4) decades to tell our nations about the Zimbabwe People\u2019s Revolutionary Army (ZPRA)\u2019s version on the war of Zimbabwe\u2019s liberation armed struggle was not deliberate but the politics in play since 1980 was to blame,\u201d said Dabengwa.<\/p>\n
Zipra was Zapu\u2019s wartime military wing that operated from Zambia.<\/p>\n
At independence in 1980, Zapu then lead by the late Joshua Nkomo who later became the country\u2019s Vice President was emasculated by then Prime Minister Robert Mugabe especially in the first decade of majority rule.<\/p>\n
Mugabe embarked on a brutal campaign code named Gukurahundi that he said was meant to rid the country of dissidents but critics argue it was aimed at decimating Nkomo\u2019s party.<\/p>\n
Nkomo capitulated in 1987 and his party was swallowed into a \u201cunited\u201d Zanu PF.<\/p>\n
Dabengwa served as Home Affairs Minister before he left government 10 years ago but has failed to make an impact on the local political scene.<\/p>\n
Zapu has also failed to pressure government to return its properties confiscated in the early 80s as part of the Gukurahundi campaign.<\/p>\n
In his comments, the new Zapu leader suggested Mugabe\u2019s wartime Zanu was not an authentic nationalist party.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe recognise the heroic deeds of our military men who laid their lives for Southern Africa<\/p>\n
endeared freedom. In doing so, we also recognize that during that difficult period of the liberation struggle of Southern Africa, Zapu was one of the five authentic liberation movements others being MPLA (Angola) , FRELIMO(Mozambique), SWAPO (Namibia) and the ANC.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe other four are in government. Lest we forget, these movements still have an obligation to acknowledge and honour the sacrifices of our people in particular those in our liberation armies by fulfilling what they fought for-the values of our liberation struggles,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The history of Zimbabwe\u2019s liberation struggle as told by authorities seems to revolves around Zanu\u2019s exploits and has literally erased Zapu\u2019s contribution except for passing comments on Nkomo\u2019s contributions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
FORMER liberation movement, Zapu\u2019s wartime intelligence supremo, Dumiso Dabengwa has blamed the \u201cpolitics in Zimbabwe\u201d for his party\u2019s failure to document its exploits during the struggle years. Dabengwa was keynote speaker at a commemoration event in Johannesburg South Africa to remember cooperation between Zapu and the ANC at the height of the liberation struggle. \u201cThe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":6647,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[38,55,28,120],"class_list":{"0":"post-6642","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-parties","9":"tag-zanu-pf","10":"tag-government","11":"tag-mugabe","12":"tag-parties"},"yoast_head":"\n