Story by Bruce Chahwanda
ZANU PF President and First Secretary Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa has urged Zimbabweans to adopt a reforestation culture for the benefit of future generations.
As has become a tradition with the revolutionary ZANU-PF party, the President and First Secretary of the ruling party, Cde Mnangagwa, led the praesidium in a planting exercise in Mutare on Saturday.
The planted Mususu tree, better known as an umbrella tree, was dedicated to Mbuya Mhurai Mnangagwa, mother to the President, for her tenacity and the gift of a distinguished Zimbabwean freedom fighter.
Cde Mnangagwa implored the nation to conserve the environment and inculcate the culture for posterity.
“We need to conserve our environment as a people, and I am happy that we are doing so. It should be a tradition which should be carried over generation after generation,” he said.
The tree planting initiative is championed by the Forestry Commission of Zimbabwe, which emphasised the importance of the exercise ahead of the national planting season with a target of 25 million trees.
“We have the top leadership taking the lead in planting trees ahead of the season, which is really setting the tone that will ensure Zimbabweans follow religiously as part of the conservation exercise,” Forestry Commission Spokesperson, Ms Violet Makoto noted.
Other members of the praesidium, including Vice Presidents General retired Dr Constantino Chiwenga and Cde Kembo Mohadi, as well as ZANU PF national Chairperson Cde Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, also planted the umbrella tree.
Besides the tree planting, President Mnangagwa also reflected on his time at Khami prison with a book evoking memories of torture set to be launched.
“It evokes memories of torture, the journey that we have travelled. I am happy that today we are free. But of course, we should not forget where we have come from. Such history shows you what tribulations we have gone through during the last forty years, 50 years ago. That is the story, and that is the reality,” he said.
Friends of Joshua Trust, Chief Executive Officer Ms Beverly Pullen, who played a key role in documenting the President’s life at Khami prison, explained the idea behind the initiative.
“The original prison record book of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was incarcerated at Khami Prison. This is just a piece of the book titled Diary of Trabablas Prisoner 841/66, a personal journey of torture, sacrifice, and resilience by His Excellency Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa. We have captured ten years of his incarceration at Khami Prison. It starts with the bombing of a train in 1964, his arrest and torture, and his almost execution. The book will be launched in December,” she said.
The book titled “The Diary of Trabablas” will be launched in December with a view to recreating Khami Prison as a tourist attraction.
