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Acting President Phelekezela Mphoko

Innocent Ruwende Senior Reporter—

Acting President Phelekezela Mphoko has urged Zimbabweans not to forget the sacrifices of the liberation struggle and ensure the masses enjoy hard-earned freedom.In a speech read on his behalf by Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi at the official opening of the Chibondo Exhibition, Acting President Mphoko said the history of the liberation struggle was very painful, yet important to the nation.

“Thoughts about that era of our quest for freedom and independence are mixed, some pleasant, some not so pleasant. The Chibondo Exhibition is a testimony that presents the truth of the very brutal nature of our erstwhile coloniser,” he said.

“While it shows the shocking madness of the coloniser, it also provides scientific proof of the cold-hearted manner with which the Rhodesian security forces executed their brutality against us the black populace.

“For all of us participants of the struggle that dislodged the settler regime, this exhibition fills the gap in the narration of the liberation of Zimbabwe.”

Acting President Mphoko said in June and August 2011, Zimbabweans were shocked at the discovery and subsequent exhumation of at least 750 bodies of victims of the heartless murders perpetrated by the Rhodesian government.

The bodies were dumped in a disused mine shaft at Chibondo, Mt Darwin, in Mashonaland Central Province.

Chibondo was a farm located 32km west of Mt Darwin where the Smith regime chose to secretly dump victims of its genocide, far from the scrutiny of the international community.

Acting President Mphoko said from dateable evidence collected during exhumation at Chibondo, the massacres occurred between 1974 and 1978 which coincides with the intensification of the liberation war.

Artefacts recovered included Rhodesian bank notes, newspapers, packets of Envoy cigarettes, which were popular in the 70’s, Super Pro brand shoes and registration certificates.

“It is important to note that the Chibondo dumpings cannot be viewed in isolation. They were part of a well-orchestrated systematic torture and brutality act exerted upon the black population by the Rhodesians,” he said.

“Chibondo dumpings are closely related to the executions that were effected on political prisoners in Rhodesia’s prisons and cross border raids that left ugly scars at camps such as Mkushi, Nyadzonia, Freedom Camp and Chimoio.”

He said there was no doubt that Chibondo accounts for thousands of people who went missing during the liberation struggle.