ZIPRA COMMANDER NDLOVU DIES

Late Hero Cde Ndlovu laid to rest


The Head of State and Government, President Robert Mugabe, says the 1960s were years of decisive decisions when the African nationalists decided to start the war.

Cde Mugabe was speaking at the burial of the late Cde Akim Matthew Ndlovu at the National Heroes Acre in Harare.

President Mugabe said the option of violent confrontation with the settler regime became obvious when peaceful means failed and the settler regime could not listen to the peaceful demands of the people Zimbabwe.

He explained that the rise of the Rhodesia front and the advent of the unilateral declaration of independence by the settler regime began the real order to everyone who heard and understood what was happening to change tactics.

Cde Mugabe said the struggle was not just against the settler colonialists but against British imperialism.

President Mugabe said Zimbabweans refused to be anything other than owners of the land and emphasied the people’s grievances through physical action.

He said the late Cde Ndlovu was one of the pioneering commanders of the liberation struggle.

Cde Mugabe thanked Cde Ndlovu for his sacrifices to the nation and even prepared to die for it.

Under his command, the military wing of ZAPU, ZIPRA grew into a formidable guerrilla army and took combat operations inside Rhodesia against the enemy to the highest levels.

He died in Bulawayo on Sunday and was declared a national hero.

The late Comrade Akim Matthew Ndlovu, who was the first Commander of ZIPRA, is survived by his wife Sithembiso and six children.