Nkomo family fights over late VP’s legacy

ARIFT is growing between the late Father Zimbabwe Joshua Nkomo’s children with his son, Sibangilizwe accusing Thandiwe, his sister, of presiding over a bogus Nkomo trust and for political mischief. Sibangilizwe is the head of the Joshua Nkomo family and Nyongolo clan and patron of the Joshua Nkomo Legacy Restoration Project Trust (JNLRPT), while Thandiwe is a trustee of the Joshua Nkomo National Foundation (JNNF).

A war of words emerged recently over the holding of the annual Joshua Nkomo memorial lecture series, with the two organisations organising separate events.

Thandiwe’s JNNF eventually held a virtual memorial lecture, inviting human rights lawyer Siphosami Malunga, while the JNLRPT is planning to hold its own at the Chinhoyi University of Technology post COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.

Sibangilizwe accused the JNNF of hijacking its projects and tarnishing the Joshua Nkomo brand out of political mischief after it announced plans to invite President Emmerson Mnangagwa and opposition leader Nelson Chamisa for a traditional meal to celebrate the life of the late Zapu leader.

“We just learnt with shock that the same guys at the Joshua Nkomo National Foundation (JNNF) are up to their political mischief again and this time, they have notched their game high. We believe that this is not only misleading, but irresponsible on their part and is again meant to soil the Joshua Nkomo name and legacy,” Sibangilizwe said in a statement yesterday.

“Therefore, we would like to make it categorically clear as a family and the Nyongolo clan, that we are very disappointed and disgusted by these developments and would like to dissociate ourselves from the activities and programmes of the JNNF because of these unpleasant developments.”

Thandiwe was diplomatic when the NewsDay sought her comment.

“I have no comment, that serves to say we are only focusing on our programmes,” Thandiwe said.

However, Sibangilizwe had no kind words for the JNNF which he accused of “abuse and political exploitation of our father and icon”, and also “hell bent on destroying and tarnishing the Joshua Nkomo brand” for selfish and sinister motives.

He said: “The same people in the JNNF deliberately hijacked an on-going programme to use it as a platform to settle their political scores with the government. This is contrary to the vision and objectives of establishing the annual Joshua Nkomo Academic Memorial Lecture Series which we have successfully run on four previous occasions.”