Zapu on Tuesday requested that one of its founding members, Amos Patrick Ngwenya who died last Friday be declared a national hero because of his contribution to the liberation struggle.
Ngwenya will be buried at Lady Stanley Cemetery in Bulawayo on Saturday. The Zapu council of elders wrote to Zanu PF secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa requesting hero status for Ngwenya (80) who succumbed to pneumonia.
According to the letter, a copy of which NewsDay has in its possession, signed by Zapu national council of elders secretary Roma Nyathi, the party approached Zanu PF after consulting Ngwenya’s family.
“Comrade Ngwenya served the party in various capacities in the ANC, NDP, PF Zapu, United Zanu PF and Zapu after the pullout from the Unity Accord,” reads part of the letter. “At the time of his untimely death, he was a member of our national council of elders – a body responsible for giving guidance to all levels of the party organs.”
Retired Colonel Thomas Ngwenya, a former member of the Zipra high command, said the late nationalist was an undisputed hero.
“He is a national hero. If he is not given that status, as Zapu we will recognise him as such. There is no question about that.”
Ngwenya is survived by his wife Grace, two daughters, five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
