Mafela Trust, an organisation set up by Zipra war veterans to preserve their history and to remind Zipra cadres of their past, will at the end of the month hold a photographic exhibition at Bulawayo gallery.
The exhibition will be officially launched on 28 October. Addressing a Press conference at the gallery on Monday, Zipra’s former information and publicity head, Saul Gwakuba Ndlovu, said the exhibition would bring to the fore bare facts that the military wing played a significant role in the liberation of the country.
“Many a time, a picture is created that only Zanla fought the struggle,” said Ndlovu.
“We have hundreds of photographs taken during the struggle. There is a great deal of historical information that is not known to the present generation. It is important that people should be updated about what took place.”
The photographs, mainly in black and white, depict Zipra cadres in training, out in the operational field, the Zipra commanders including the late Vice-President Joshua Nkomo and activities at Freedom Camp in Zambia.
The photographs were taken by the late Zenzo Nkobi as well as Albert “Magaisa” Ndinda who is also late.
Ndlovu said in 1962, the then Federal Government organised a tour for journalists to see for themselves “the amount of damage that Zapu fighters had caused when they burnt down hundreds of farms as part of the struggle for freedom from the repressive regime”.
“This goes to show that Zapu started fighting many years ago”.
