Nkomo family kept in dark on statue

[SEPTEMBER 6, 2010]

THE Nkomo family says it is still unaware when their father’s statue will be unveiled and that nobody was communicating with them on the issue.

In an interview with NewsDay over the weekend, Thandiwe Nkomo Ebrahim, eldest daughter of the late national hero, said the family was completely in the dark on the statue issue.

“The statue in Bulawayo was erected without our knowledge and to date no one has said anything to us as a family. We know nothing about the unveiling,” she said.

Ebrahim said she had learnt through newspaper reports that the statue would be unveiled by President Robert Mugabe.

“We read in the newspapers that the statue would be unveiled by the President, but as a family no one has approached us to inform us,” she said.

Co-Minister of Home Affairs Kembo Mohadi revealed recently that the statue would be unveiled by President Mugabe at a date to be announced.

The Bulawayo City Council has also complained that it has not been consulted about the whole issue and has said the black cloth that was used to cover the statue was taboo in African culture.

Nkomo’s statue in Bulawayo has been erected at the corner of Main Street and 8th Avenue.

Deputy Mayor Amen Mpofu said: “As a city, we would have wanted to be engaged and consulted about the whole process but, up to date, we have not heard anything.”

Mpofu said the city was unhappy about the black cloth covering the statue.

Ndebele traditionalists have also said the black cloth should not have been used because black is symbolic of mourning.

Sometime last week, war veterans in Bulawayo reportedly threatened to uproot the controversial statue unless the government clarified allegations that some of the material used to construct the statue was sourced from North Korea.

The origins of the statue are unknown and government officials have refused to disclose information regarding its scalping. However, sources maintain the statue was made in North Korea.

A member of the Zimbabwe People Revolutionary Army Veterans’ Association, Morrison Dube, said ex-combatants would pull down the statue if indeed it was made in North Korea.

“If that statue was made in North Korea then it is a mockery of Joshua Nkomo’s works and the ideals he stood for,” he said.

During a recent visit to Bulawayo to view progress on the statue Minister Mohadi said the statue would be guarded round the clock before and after its unveiling until members of the public became accustomed to it.

He said anyone who tampered with it would be arrested and prosecuted under the National Museums and Monuments Act.

— NewsDay