SIKOMBELA DECLARED NATIONAL MONUMENT THE Sikombela Restriction Camp, where President Mugabe and other founding Zanu officials were detained during the liberation war, has been declared a national monument. Other senior Zanu officials detained at the camp in 1964 were Cdes Simon Muzenda, Edgar Tekere, Enos Nkala, Eddison Zvobgo and Ndabaningi Sithole. It is at this restriction camp where the Sikombela Declaration — a dossier outlining war strategy — was drafted by senior Zanu officials. The camp is located about 5km from the Kwekwe-Gokwe Road in the Midlands province. National Museum and Monument of Zimbabwe heritage manager for the Midlands province Mr Clapperton Gutu confirmed that the camp had been declared a national monument, in an interview with The Herald during a tour of the camp by some of the surviving Sikombela Restriction camp ex-detainees. “This place was declared a national monument last month after we had submitted the nomination dossier in 2006. In the near future, we will be looking at coming up with a management plan of the site like any other heritage sites. The Sikombela Restriction Camp falls under the liberation heritage site. It was nominated on the basis of its historical values. “While we have massacre camps and grave sites in Mozambique and Zambia, among others, Sikombela has historical values on the national level,” Mr Gutu said. Asked why it took over three decades to recognise the significance of the camp, he said focus was on bigger sites in the period soon after independence. “We are realising we have other significant places back home. In our management plan we intend to come up with a museum or the interpretative centre on site chronicling its history.
Posted on: Fri, 30 Aug 2013 05:49:56 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015