Zimbabwe has stepped up efforts to preserve and dignify liberation war heritage sites beyond its borders, with an inter-ministerial technical team recently concluding a fact-finding and assessment mission to key shrines in Mozambique.
A similar delegation was also dispatched to Zambia as part of a broader regional initiative to identify, document and upgrade liberation heritage sites where Zimbabwean freedom fighters and refugees are buried.
The Mozambique mission, undertaken from February 17 to 21, visited Changara in Tete Province, Chibabava in Sofala Province and Espungabera in Manica Province.
The delegation was led on the Mozambican side by Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Mozambique, Dr Victor Matemadanda, who described the exercise as part of a clear national directive.
“This programme is part of my mandate as instructed by His Excellency, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, to identify all liberation heritage sites in Mozambique, and work towards their upliftment so that they attain a respectable and befitting outlook,” said Ambassador Matemadanda.
He emphasised that the initiative is, not merely infrastructural, but deeply symbolic.
“These shrines speak to the brotherhood and camaraderie between Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Our countries share blood ties forged in the crucible of the liberation struggle. Mozambicans sheltered our fighters and our refugees. Some of their own sons and daughters lie buried alongside Zimbabweans. We have a shared responsibility to honour them,” he said.
At Changara, approximately 326 kilometres from Chimoio, the team assessed two mass graves believed to contain the remains of Zimbabwean freedom fighters and Mozambican comrades who were killed when Rhodesian forces bombed a transit settlement in the late 1970s. The graves, currently marked at ground level with minimal structural protection, are located within residential surroundings and lack formal memorial infrastructure.
The delegation also visited Chibabava which once functioned as a major refugee camp for thousands of Zimbabwean civilians fleeing colonial brutality. Overcrowding, malnutrition and disease claimed hundreds of lives, with estimates suggesting that more than 900 individuals may be buried at the site.
Mr Afonso Thonela Muchanga, a local caretaker who has overseen the Chibabava Shrine for years, spoke emotionally about the site’s importance.
“Mozambicans identify with these Zimbabwean shrines as our own. Some of our people died as part of this war effort. We lived together with the freedom fighters and Zimbabwean refugees. Their history is our history,” said Mr Muchanga.
In Espungabera, near the Zimbabwean border, the team inspected a mass grave and three individual graves linked to a former ZANLA transit and screening centre that was reportedly bombed during the war.
The latest assessments form part of a broader national vision spearheaded by President Mnangagwa to give liberation heritage sites, both within and outside Zimbabwe a dignified and standardised outlook.
The drive follows significant developments at the Chimoio National Shrine, which has undergone progressive upgrading in recent months.
By extending similar attention to other sites such as Changara, Chibabava and Espungabera, Government aims to ensure that all resting places of Zimbabwe’s fallen heroes reflect the nation’s enduring gratitude and respect.
The parallel technical mission to Zambia underscores the regional dimension of the initiative, recognising that Zimbabwe’s liberation war was fought across borders with the support of frontline states.
Ambassador Matemadanda underscored that the initiative also strengthens diplomatic and historical ties between Harare and Maputo. “Our relationship with Mozambique is not transactional; it is historical and fraternal. These sites remind us of the sacrifices that cemented our independence. Preserving them is both a moral duty and a reaffirmation of our enduring bilateral partnership,” he said.
As Zimbabwe approaches its 46th independence commemorations, the renewed focus on liberation heritage in foreign lands signals a deliberate and structured effort to consolidate national memory, honour shared sacrifice and project a dignified image of its revolutionary history across the region.
Source: The Herald Zimbabwe