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Abigail Mawonde Herald Correspondent—
Zimbabweans have been urged to remain vigilant and safeguard the country’s hard won independence. War veterans said this in different interviews with The Herald yesterday ahead of the Heroes’ Day commemorations to be held in the various provincial and district centres across the country. Heroes’ Day is commemorated to honour heroes and heroines who sacrificed their lives to liberate the country.

In an interview, Welfare Services for War Veterans, War Collaborators, Ex-Political Detainees and Restrictees Minister Tshinga Dube said the Heroes’ Day was a very important day on our national calendar and should be accorded the worth it deserves.

“Heroes’ Day is a very important day on our calendar. That is the day when we commemorate and remember our fallen heroes, those we left in Mozambique, in Zambia and those in the bushes of Zimbabwe.

“We will all gather to pay our respects to these people and we take them very seriously. We wish our children would be taught to take it very seriously,” he said. Cde Dube urged Zimbabweans to safeguard the country against detractors saying people should understand the depth of having one sacrificing his or her life to liberate others from colonial rule.

He warned war veterans against diverting from their values.

“I have heard that some war veterans had pledged not to attend the Heroes’ Day celebrations but I think that will be the gravest thing that they could do. We must actually make sure that all of us come in big numbers to commemorate this day.

“I know a lot of people have been saying a lot of things about our country, but, yes, I must say we are not angels in our country. We have our own shortcomings like any other country. There is no country in the world without its own problems, if there is one, I would be very surprised.

“So these people understand that like all other people, we want to make our country better; so it is not right for people to criticise our water, our soil, and our people and forget that we own this and we decide.

“Rather they should focus on their own problems,” he said. Speaking to the media yesterday, Zimbabwe Liberation War Collaborators (ZLWCo) Chairman Pupurai Togarepi said the Heroes Day was a special day to remember fallen heroes.

He dismissed rumours that associated his association with plans to boycott the national event. “We are going to the Heroes Acre. We are going to remember our Mujibas and Chimbwidos who died to liberate this country.

“War veterans may have their own way of communicating issues, we have our own way of communicating and we have not taken a united position to say because war veterans are not doing this, then we are going to do that . . . we have not gone to a point where we would then boycott revolutionary events,” he said.

Cde Togarepi added: “We remember our comrades not only on Heroes’ Day but every day and this is a special day where we go as the people of Zimbabwe and I would not want to find myself not in attendance, that will be very wrong.

“My membership is still saying that we will have to do it in remembrance of our membership who perished during and after the war and have been buried at these shrines. “We need to go there, remind our children and the people of Zimbabwe that those who lie there gave us our freedom and independence.”

Retired Brigadier General Ambrose Mutinhiri said the Heroes’ Day commemorations reminded him of the painful history of the country.

“As a war veteran, Heroes’ Day celebrations take me back to think about where we came from, the journey we travelled to independence,” he said. It was a long and painful journey, a journey where you lose some of your friends and it is during this time that we are reminded of all those sad moments.”

Cde Mutinhiri urged Zimbabweans to safeguard their national heritage. “As war veterans we are pained when see people who do not value what we fought for during the liberation struggle. I would like to tell all Zimbabweans that the country is ours and we have a duty to build it.

“We have people who sacrificed their lives to liberate it and we must not betray them. “People should work towards developing our country and learn to solve our problems peacefully and amicably rather than trying to destroy the country through useless quarrels,” he said.

In a statement yesterday, Tehillar Christian Network (TCN) Founder and President Reverand Sam Malunga called upon clerics to urge congregants to attend Heroes’ Day commemorations. “TCN calls upon clerics and religious leaders across the religious divide to exhort congregants to attend the National Heroes’ Day commemorations.

“Zimbabweans are at a time to retrospect and introspect the sacrificial contributions by fallen heroes and those living in paying the price for the freedom of Zimbabweans,” he said. Meanwhile, National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe executive director Dr Godfrey Mahachi said there was need for Government to allocate funds for the maintenance of provincial heroes’ acres around the country.

In an interview with The Herald yesterday, he said the situation on the ground was not matching the required standards for the provincial shrines. “Our provincial heroes’ acres are not in the best state, they should be much better that they are at the moment because they were created to basically represent the national heroes’ acre at provincial level,” he said.

He said development plans had been made some years back and the intention was to have the provincial heroes’ acres have almost a similar design and architecture for their level. “For instance the graves themselves are supposed to have a granite finish, they also need site museums so that they can be used for purposes of telling the story of our struggle.

“There are also various amenities that should accompany such infrastructure like ablutions and sitting spaces; which are part of the designs which were made but the challenge is on the implementation of those plans,” he said. Dr Mahachi said they had not been able to implement the development programme at provincial heroes’ acres due to lack of budgetary support for the past 10 years.