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George Maponga in MASVINGO
The National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ) has formally applied to Government for Gonakudzingwa Restriction Camp in southern Chikombedzi to be declared a national monument, in line with the ongoing enshrinement programme.

Declaration of Gonakudzingwa as a national monument will see the camp undergoing rehabilitation to restore the facility to its original state when it used to house predominantly Zapu nationalist leaders during the country’s war of liberation.

There were delays in starting the process of enshrinement of Gonakudzingwa as the camp was tucked deep inside a minefield created by the Rhodesian colonial regime in the late 1970s in a bid to curb the influx of freedom fighters from neighbouring Mozambique.

The Zimbabwe Defence Forces has since completed de-mining areas around Gonakudzingwa, giving the NMMZ leeway to start the enshrinement exercise.

Mapping of actual coordinates at the camp was hampered by mines planted in the area.

NMMZ Masvingo regional director Mr Lovemore Mandima yesterday said they submitted a dossier supporting the camp’s declaration as a national monument.

“Gonakudzingwa is on course; we completed the mapping exercise end of last year and also completed the nomination dossier for national monument status,” he said.

“We have since submitted the dossier (nomination) to our head office for onward transmission to higher offices for declaration of national monument status as was done to Sikombela, which is in the same class as Gonakudzingwa,” he said.

Mr Mandima said besides Gonakudzingwa, plans were also at an advanced stage to start upgrading work on the Trabablas Trail, the route used by President Mnangagwa and his colleagues on their way to bomb a Rhodesian locomotive at Masvingo railway station in 1964.

Trabablas Trail, named after one of President Mnangagwa’s several nom-de-guerres, “Trabablas Dzokerai Mabhunu’”, is one of the historic sites in the country earmarked to become national monuments under the ongoing enshrinement programme.

President Mnangagwa eventually served 10 years behind bars for bombing the Rhodesia Railways locomotive, escaping mandatory death sentence for the daring feat on a technicality.

Mr Mandima said declaration of Gonakudzingwa as a national monument and subsequent restoration work would spur tourism growth at Sango Border Post which is adjacent to the original site of the restriction camp.

The Sango Border Post road, currently in very bad shape, will also undergo rehabilitation for easy access to Gonakudzingwa.

The rehabilitation will also stimulate cross-border trade between Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Gonakudzingwa’s shadow looms large in the history of Zimbabwe’s struggle for independence as it was once home to nationalist leaders such as the late Father Zimbabwe, Dr Joshua Nkomo; the late Vice President Cde Joseph Msika and veteran nationalist Cde Josiah Chinamano, among others, who were banished there by the heinous Ian Smith regime in a bid to deflate their nationalist zeal.