Story by Providence Maraneli
VICE President Colonel (Retired) Kembo Mohadi says Zimbabwe will remain grateful to Tanzania for providing sanctuary to freedom fighters during the liberation struggle.
The Vice President made the remarks when he paid a courtesy call on his Tanzanian counterpart, Dr Philip Mpango, at Dar-es-Salaam State House this Saturday. A nation that withstood the pressure from racist regimes to assist liberation movements achieve their goal, a nation founded by a selfless leader, Cde Julius Mwalimu Nyerere, who saw his country’s independence as worthless without the independence of other African countries.
Tanzania gave it all for Zimbabwe’s freedom, and the meeting between the Vice President Mohadi and his Tanzanian counterpart was not a formality but a brother acknowledging the sacrifices made for the attainment of independence.
Vice President Mohadi appreciated the role played by Tanzania during the liberation struggle, acknowledging the need for economic cooperation.
“Tanzania is a very important country in our history. The leaders were selfless. They got their independence early, but they offered to help us. We had a meeting with the Vice President and we discussed a lot of issues. We trade together, we have the Joint Permanent Commissions in which we meet and discuss issues that are of mutual interest to the two countries. So, cooperation is there. We may want it to be upgraded to the Binational Commission, where we can even discuss more issues than those that are described as Joint Permanent Commission corporations,” he said.
The Vice President, who is also the Second Secretary of the ruling ZANU PF party, also toured the Mwalimu Julius Nyerere School of Leadership, where he urged students to emulate the selfless character of Africa’s founding fathers.
“I am sure now that you have been taught about running councils. This is what we want as former liberation movements, we want service delivery, serve the people, the leaders you see their pictures here wanted us to serve the people, and this we must do,” he added.
Tanzanian Vice President Dr Philip Isdor Mpango said the visit by Vice President Mohadi cements the already existing relations.
“I am so delighted to have met my friend here, we share a lot in common and we need to work on a lot of cooperation like tourism, mining, and agriculture,” he noted.
Vice President Mohadi is on the third lap of his regional tour of sites where gallant sons and daughters sought sanctuary in search of Zimbabwe’s independence.
Tanzania provided safe haven for liberation movements in Southern Africa as a logistical and training base for anti-colonial efforts in the region.
Places like Nachingweya, Mugagao, Bagamoyo, Morogoro, and Kongwa are some of the camps where freedom fighters received training.
