BULAWAYO Metropolitan Senator Dorothy Khumalo (MDC) on Tuesday touched a raw nerve and raised the ire of Zanu PF Senators after suggesting that the national pledge ignored contributions made by heroes from some regions.
Source: ‘National pledge a distortion of history’ – NewsDay Zimbabwe March 9, 2017
BY VENERANDA LANGA
Khumalo was contributing to a motion introduced by Mashonaland Central Senator Alice Chimbudzi, pledging support for the national pledge.
She argued that the national pledge has “distorted” historical facts which deliberately left out the part played by heroes and heroines from Matabeleland and by Zipra forces.
“Most of the time when we talk of the liberation of this country, we hear about Ambuya Nehanda and Sekuru Kaguvi and Mukwati, but I have not heard people talking about Lobengula and the war that was fought in 1966 by Zipra forces in Hwange,” she said.
“Even if you check in history books (A level) you will find that people in Mashonaland did not participate in the First Chimurenga because they were farming because people from that region are mostly into farming, and the First Chimurenga was fought by Lobengula, when he signed the Rudd Concession to allow the whites to do mining, but they also went on to do farming, which angered Lobengula and he fought the whites.”
Khumalo said it was at Gadade where the First Chimurenga was fought, and then the Second Chimurenga occurred, where the Ndebeles and Shonas united to fight colonial forces.
“Let us tell our children the truth and this is the truth. The Ndebeles and the Shonas fought the white men. Our children should be proud of that, and not to sideline other regions. They cannot be united when there is only one side of the story and this is exactly what I am saying,” the opposition lawmaker said.
She added that most history books make reference to the battle of Chimoio, leaving out other battles like the one which happened at Hwange in 1966, fought by the Zipra forces led by John Dube and Chris Hani of the African National Congress and the 1967 Sipolilo war fought by the Zipra forces against the Rhodesian front.
“From now on – and in the national pledge, whenever we mention the names Kaguvi, Mukwati or Mbuya Nehanda – let us mention the entire history of other regions,” Khumalo argued.
Irritated Zanu PF Senators accused Khumalo of pushing a tribalist line.
She, however, received support from opposition ranks.
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