The Sunday Mail
Kuda Bwititi
Political Editor
FOR war veterans, this year’s Independence Day celebrations were special.
Dozens of ex-fighters who were part of the thousands of combatants that assembled at Dzapasi Assembly Point in 1979 in Buhera, Manicaland province, were given the honour of marching in the stadium during Thursday’s Independence Day festivities. Dzapasi stands as a landmark in Zimbabwe’s liberation history.
It is the assembly point that had the largest group of ex-combatants during the ceasefire. The place also witnessed the lowering of the Union Jack and hoisting of a new Zimbabwean flag.
On Independence Day, the ex-combatants, proudly dressed in their freshly issued khaki regalia, courtesy of the Ministry of Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Affairs, marched in a display of unity and remembrance.
The Zimbabwe Ex-Political Prisoners, Detainees and Restrictees Association Manicaland chairperson, Cde Patrick Maponga, said: “The recognition we received to march for the President served as a powerful reminder of the struggle and the hard-won freedom we helped secure.”
Cde Maponga said he was one of the liberation war fighters sentenced to death in 1977 at the infamous “Butcher Site” in Rusape but survived.
“I was only 17 years old at that time, and the majority age was 21. I survived on that technicality after being charged with treason. But I watched comrades being killed at the ‘Butcher Site’ and I consider myself extremely lucky to have survived. This is why Independence Day means so much to me,” he said.
Another war veteran, Cde Edmore Nemaunga, who also assembled at Dzapasi, said the decision to bring Independence Day celebrations to Buhera was laudable.
“The honour we were given to march in front of the President allowed us to reflect deeply on the importance of this day. We marched not just for ourselves, but for all those who fought and sacrificed for our liberation. It was a poignant moment for us.”
