Good Day Mr President:Robert Sigauke DEAR President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Zimbabwe celebrated National Unity Day a few days ago, commemorating the historic unification of former liberation war movements PF Zapu and Zanu into what we now know as Zanu PF. The historical importance of this event was two legged, firstly, that it ended the disturbances in the Midlands and Matabeleland regions between 1983-1987 and secondly, it bound the two former liberation movements into one united front for a joint thrust towards national development. Before then, PF Zapu had accused the now late Robert Mugabe and his party of embarking on a mission to decimate Zapu, which had been taken to represent and drive a tribal agenda favouring the non-Shona tribes in the Mid-South-Westerly regions of Zimbabwe. Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo is aptly referred to as Father Zimbabwe, quite befitting because he was a nationalist par excellence. From his days in the railways trade union to the formation of the ANC, it is widely accepted that he was the father of nationalism in Zimbabwe. Zanu was a product of tribal fault-lines cracking within the then rank and file of Zapu, having been dissatisfied with the leadership of Nkomo. By default or design, the fallout assumed tribal connotations and this was to define the nationalist project and politics until today. Despite sharing the same nationalist aspirations against the Rhodesian regime, there were little or no attempts to unite the two liberation movements. Zipa was one attempt were the military wings of these two movements made an effort to forge an alliance on the battlefield, but it was short-lived. Another notable united front was seen during the Lancaster House negotiations. There are records, which indicate that Nkomo would favour the involvement of Mugabe where it was necessary, at one point directing that “bring that bright young man Robert” to be included in a negotiating delegation. Nkomo later agreed to unity to end disturbances of 1983-1987. This was the legacy of the towering man, who passed away in 1999. May his dear soul rest in peace, and may his legacy of unity, equality and freedom of the people live on. May his legacy of shunning toxic and tribal politics, and politics of violence against minorities be never forgotten. May his legacy live on. A good number of indications show that Mugabe had plotted the creation of a one party State since the early 80s and even before that. It had its own benefits for the party and Mugabe, thought it easy to deal with internal opposition than having sleepless nights over an opposition outside or partly within government. Reports suggest the Matabeleland disturbances were prepared for as early as 1981, so there are indeed gray areas in the conspiracy surrounding the arms cache found on Zapu controlled properties, but that is another story. The might and force used by Mugabe’s government against 50 or so dissidents, resulting in collateral damages of 20 000 unarmed Ndebele speaking civilians in the Matabeleland and Midlands provinces was not proporti
