Former deputy prime minister, Arthur Mutambara, has stated that Ndabaningi Sithole‘s heroism cannot be by ZANU PF’s endorsement. Mutambara believes that heroism is earned and not conferred, and ZANU PF is not qualified to make or unmake Sithole’s status.

Specifically, he argues that President Emmerson Mnangagwa, given his limited involvement in the liberation struggle, is not qualified to speak on Sithole’s heroic contributions. Mutambara said:

On Ndabaningi Sithole’s National Hero Status

To Zimbabweans, Sithole was always a hero, with or without the endorsement of ZANU-PF and its leaders. Heroism is earned and not conferred. ZANU-PF is not qualified to make or unmake Sithole’s Hero status. More specifically, Emmerson Mnangagwa (given his limited, frivolous and undecorated involvement in the liberation struggle) is not qualified to speak on Ndabaningi Sithole’s heroic contributions to the liberation of Zimbabwe. He is unworthy to untie Ndabaningi’s shoes. Throughout his life in independent Zimbabwe, Sithole suffered persecution and harassment at the hands of ZANU-PF and its government. His key tormentors were Robert Mugabe and Emmerson Mnangagwa. Sithole died while going through a treason trial. Hence the fraudulent charade and vote-buying gimmick at Freedom Farm today must be condemned with the contempt that they deserve. Ndabaningi Sithole is a National Hero with or without ZANU-PF endorsement.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government officially conferred national hero’s status on late pioneering nationalist Ndabaningi Sithole in Chipinge on Saturday, June 10, 2023, at Freedom Farm in Mt. Selinda, Chipinge District. 

Sithole, who was a founding ZANU party leader and a cleric, was denied hero status by the late ex-President Robert Mugabe. Despite years of persecution by Mugabe, Sithole was regarded as an unsung hero of the country’s liberation from colonial rule.

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