ZAPU has mourned the death of Zephaniah Nkomo who died on Sunday at a Bulawayo hospital and described him as a humble human being, Newsday reports.
ZAPU through its spokesperson Iphithule Maphosa said former President Robert Mugabe wanted to draft the Mafela Trust National Director into the Central Intelligent Organisation but he refused. Said Maphosa:
Zephaniah Nkomo was a Russia-trained intelligence officer of the National Security and Order (NSO), who offered distinguished service to Zapu and Zipra during the liberation struggle. After independence, Cde Zwe continued as head of the Zapu security department.
Like the rest of Zipra fighters his immense contribution to the liberation of Zimbabwe was never acknowledged or recognised by the powers that took over after the war. A humble man by nature, he never went about boasting about his contribution to the armed liberation struggle.
However, his closeness to, and trust bestowed upon him by the late Zapu president Dumiso Dabengwa spoke volumes about how highly regarded he was in the intelligence circles of Zipra’s NSO.
His selection to head Mafela Trust, whose role is to document Zapu and Zipra history gave further evidence of the trust that Zapu and Zipra had in him
70-year-old Nkomo who was the author of ZIPRA memoirs at the time of his death succumbed to respiratory disease at the turn of the new week.
More: Newsday