Story by Gay Matambo
MANICALAND has stepped up efforts to preserve Zimbabwe’s liberation war history, with local organisations embarking on a programme to memorialise key war shrines across the province.
The Manicaland chapter of the Children of Zimbabwe Liberation War Veterans Association (CZLWVA), working with the Fallen Heroes Trust, has begun restoring and documenting liberation war sites as part of broader national efforts to safeguard the country’s liberation heritage.
The initiative aligns with a Government-led programme to rehabilitate and memorialise liberation war shrines within Zimbabwe and across the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. These include historic sites such as the Boma Shrine in Angola and the Nampundwe and Mkushi shrines in Zambia.
In Manicaland, the programme was launched in Mutasa District at the Matumba 6 shrine and will be extended to other liberation war sites across the province.
Members of the CZLWVA Manicaland said the initiative was aimed at honouring fallen liberation fighters and ensuring that the history of the struggle for independence is preserved for future generations.
“We are being pushed to do what we are doing now, that is, memorialising these shrines as a way of thanking and honouring our fallen heroes who are the reason we are independent as a country. We are here at Matumba 6, and we appreciate this programme. The programme goes a long way in ensuring that the history of our nation is passed on from one generation to the other,” the association said.
Chairperson of CZLWVA Manicaland Province, Cde Willis Nyamande, said the programme also involved cleaning, restoring and upgrading the shrines to preserve their historical significance.
“We have joined hands today with Warveterans in cleaning and sprucing up this site. We are grateful to President Emmerson Mnangagwa for rolling out this programme, which has seen the national leadership visiting Zimbabwe’s liberation war shrines across the SADC region with a view to memorialising them as well as upgrading them, particularly in Chimoio, where a lot has been done to honour the fallen heroes who were buried there. We have embarked on a programme that will focus on cleaning and sprucing up all shrines in Manicaland and across the country,” Cde Nyamande stated.
Cde Nyamande said the Manicaland initiative would roll out to all known shrines in the province as part of a coordinated national effort.
Chairperson of the Fallen Heroes Trust Manicaland Province, Cde Gift Kagweda, said the programme was also playing a key role in promoting unity and intergenerational transfer of history.
“Through President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s guidance, we are seeing the youths coming together as one, implementing such a noble cause. We thank them, and this is a clear sign that the liberation war history will be passed on to generations that come, as we see youths taking a leading role in honouring the fallen heroes of our nation,” Cde Kagweda added.
The Matumba 6 shrine, located near Old Mutare, is among Manicaland’s most prominent liberation war sites and is the final resting place of hundreds of fighters who died during the struggle for independence.
In recent years, the site has hosted major reburial ceremonies following the exhumation of remains from surrounding areas, with close to 300 liberation war fighters reburied at the shrine during a single ceremony.
