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Elita Chikwati Senior Reporter
Visiting Saharawi Republic President Brahim Ghali was yesterday impressed by the National Heroes Acre, saying it was an important structure that will help youths understand the history of Zimbabwe.

He said this after touring the national monument.

President Ghali visited the national shrine in the company of Acting Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Ambassador Simon Khaya Moyo, Saharawian ambassador to Zimbabwe Counsellor Tayeb Sadik Bachir and other Government officials.

The Saharawian leader laid a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

President Ghali laying a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

He was taken around the monument by resident curator Ms Rumbidzai Bvira, who chronicled the history of Zimbabwe from colonialism to independence as depicted on two murals standing on the sides of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

President Ghali was shown the tomb of the first chairman of Zanu-PF’s Dare ReChimurenga, Cde Herbert Hamandishe Chitepo, and other liberation icons like the late Vice President Joshua Nkomo.

President Ghali laying a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

He also visited the graves of the first heroine o be buried at the shrine, Cde Sally Mugabe, and Cde Arthur Guy Clutton-Brock, whom Ms Bvira described as a critical figure in the liberation struggle.

“This is a great work that recognises the sacrifices of the heroes and heroines of Zimbabwe,” said President Ghali. “It is also a great historical monument that will help the generation that did not participate during the era of the struggle for independence to have an idea about the history.

“It takes them back to this brutal era that many generations, many Africans, many other countries and peoples have suffered.

“The National Heroes Acre also reminds us of our own struggle against the Spanish and Moroccan colonialism and oppression and it also shows the similarities between the struggles and sacrifices of all African peoples who fought colonialism.

“I would advise you to continue showing and explaining the history to this young generation so that they understand their history.”

President Ghali said he was confident his country would be independent from Moroccan occupation.

President Ghali inspects a guard of honor during a tour at the National Heroes acre yesterday. – (Picture by Memory Mangombe)

“You attained independence in Zimbabwe and we (will) get it too because the resistance of the people can never be stopped,” he said.

President Ghali said he was confident that Zimbabwe would hold peaceful elections.

“We are sure that the Zimbabweans who sacrificed and struggled for independence and sacrificed also to unify the nation will know what to do in the democratic process,” he said.

Mr Ghali arrived in Zimbabwe on Tuesday on an official visit to strengthen bilateral relations.

Zimbabwe and Saharawi have a longstanding revolutionary relationship which dates back to the liberation struggle.

The Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic is a former Spanish colony annexed by Morocco in 1975.

It has been a subject of a long running dispute between Morocco and the indigenous Saharawi people led by the Polisario Front.