INACTION by President Robert Mugabe has stalled progress in the establishment of a museum in honour of revered wartime military general, Solomon Mujuru.
BY RICHARD CHIDZA
Mujuru, whose nom de guerre was Rex Nhongo, died in a mysterious fire in August 2011 at his Ruzambo Farm in Beatrice and was declared a national hero.
In May 2012, Mugabe led a cast of politicians, who included Mujuru’s wife, Joice, who was then Vice-President, and then Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, among others, in converging at the late general’s farm to launch the Solomon Mujuru Trust Foundation.
However, three years down the line, there has been no progress regarding the establishment of the museum and one of the board members of the trust, War Veterans deputy minister Tshinga Dube said the ball was in Mugabe’s court.
“Things have been quiet and we have not met for a long time. We only met as a board twice for preparatory work before everything went dead,” he said.
Relations between Mugabe and Joice have since turned sour with the veteran leader accusing his former deputy of plotting to unseat him, accusations she has strenuously denied.
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Asked if the cooling of relations between Mugabe and Joice and her eventual sacking had anything to do with the stalling of the Mujuru Trust, Dube said he was not sure.
“It has been sometime since I met the former VP. I am not sure if the trust was affected by what happened, but the President is the patron and has the final say on how we should proceed,” he said.
Mugabe was appointed patron of the trust’s board, which includes Mujuru’s brother Joel, Joice, Dube, cleric Father Fidelis Mukonori, Busi Chindove, Kumbirai Rungano Mujuru, industrialist and family friend Peter Lobel and career diplomat Margaret Muchada.
Contacted for comment, Joice referred questions to the chairman of the trust.
“Check with the chairperson of the trust,” she said curtly, but she did not say who that person was.
Joel, the late general’s sibling said he was not ready to talk about the issue when contacted for comment yesterday.
“I will call you when I am ready to talk about that issue,” he said. “That, I promise, I will definitely call you.”
Mugabe’s spokesperson George Charamba’s mobile phone went unanswered yesterday.
Mujuru’s death has remained a mystery despite an inquest concluding he had died of smoke inhalation and asphyxia, a condition arising when the body is deprived of oxygen, causing suffocation leading to death.
