A 95-year-old former Zipra cadre, David Moyo, who is a
brother to the late nationalist, Jason Ziyaphapha Moyo, says many ex-freedom
fighters have nothing to show for their sacrifices, with some of them now worse
off than they were before joining the liberation struggle.
Moyo, whose liberation war name was Sharp Shoot, said he
was heartbroken as he still had no proper accommodation 40 years after independence
and was relying on begging for food to feed his family.
“I am still nursing injuries I sustained during the war. I
lost my brother Ziyaphapha in the same war,” he told Sunday Southern Eye on
Independence Day.
“My heart is broken to realise that after 40 years of
independence, I am still crammed in a three-roomed house with one bedroom,
which I share with my mother-in-law who is now 90 years old.
“I am also supposed to queue for mealie-meal and look for
other basic commodities to feed my family.”
Moyo said he takes three types of medication per month,
which he sources from South Africa, but can no longer do so due to the national
lockdown to control the spread of coronavirus.
“It really boggles my mind to realise that I am now at an
advanced age and having liberated this country through my sacrifice, I still
have nothing tangible that I will leave behind for my family to lay hands on,”
he said.
Moyo said first lady Auxillia Mnangagwa visited him last
year and promised that government would look for land and build a big house for
him.
He said almost a year later, the promise was yet to be
fulfilled.
The former senior Zipra commander said he wanted to turn
his Matobo farm into a tourist attraction but had no capital to do so.
Moyo said people who did not make any sacrifice to liberate
the country were the ones enjoying the fruits of independence.
He said former president Robert Mugabe looted resources in
the country and destroyed the economy.
“President Emmerson Mnangagwa was the right-hand man of
Mugabe and should be reminded that he was in the forefront during the time when
there were atrocities in Matabeleland,” Moyo added.
“He must repent otherwise people do not trust him.” Moyo
was in the same trenches with Jacob Zuma, the former South African president,
as Zipra and uMkhonto weSizwe worked hand-in-hand during the liberation
struggle. Standard
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