POLITICAL parties based in Bulawayo have expressed mixed feelings over the death of former President Robert Mugabe.
Mugabe (95) died Friday at a Singapore hospital where he was being treated for an undisclosed illness since April this year.
The Thokozani Khupe led MDC-T said Mugabe together with the late Vice President Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo will be remembered for liberating the country from colonial rule.
“The MDC-T joins the rest of the country in mourning the late founding president. We appreciate his contribution together with the late Father Zimbabwe Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo, for liberating our country. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family. May His soul rest in eternal peace,” said Khaliphani Pugeni, the party‘s national spokesperson.
The Bulawayo provincial wing of the MDC led by Nelson Chamisa said Mugabe represented a sad chapter in Zimbabwe’s history this against glowing eulogies from the party’s national leadership.
“Robert Mugabe presided over the misery and impoverishment of Zimbabweans. He conspired with our erstwhile colonisers to protect himself after killing tens of thousands of our Ndebele compatriots. He awarded former Rhodesian forces a handsome pension and impoverished ZIPRA cadres by grabbing ZIPRA properties and investments. He is a sad chapter in our history,” said the party’s Bulawayo provincial spokesperson, Swethern Chiroodza.
Zapu’s wartime military wing ZIPRA Veterans Association spokesperson Bester Magwizi said while the association sympathises with the Mugabe family, ZIPRA cadres will never forgive him for ill-treating former ZIPRA cadres.
“On the issue of Gukurahundi Mugabe had so much hate of ZIPRA. He had no trust of ZIPRA cadres as ZIPRA forces was to advanced militarily and professionally. He took away ZIPRA properties and deprived them of their livelihood,” said Magwizi.
