CELEBRATIONS to commemorate the death of the late Vice-President Joshua Nkomo will go ahead as planned despite reports that there had been plans to sabotage the function, the family said yesterday.
Report by Khulani Nkabinde.
The late Vice-President’s son Sibangilizwe yesterday told the Southern Eye that there were some “mysterious people” who had destroyed the stage for the event on Friday in an effort to sabotage the event.
“Joshua Nkomo fought and won against a racist white regime in this country,” he said.
“Who are these people who think they can stop the celebrations through destroying the stage?”
Sibangilizwe has vowed to unilaterally declare today, the 14th anniversary of Nkomo’s death, as Joshua Nkomo and Liberators’ Day.
He said he had written a number of letters to the government to have them set up such a day, but all efforts had been in vain as he had not received a response from the Home Affairs ministry. Sibangilizwe said he had decided to take unilateral action.
There were reports that there was a tussle over the celebrations, with Zanu PF also making parallel plans to honour the late Vice-President. But the Nkomo family said it was forging ahead with its own celebrations and were not perturbed by reports of the sabotage.
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“They will never win,” Sibangilizwe, dressed in a leather headgear which was his father’s signature, said.
Sibangilizwe said the commemorations would start at 8am, with a march from Blue Lagoon, the family business and would wind up at Stanley Square. President Robert Mugabe’s spokesman George Charamba could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Only Mugabe can pronounce public holidays.
