President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa says the choice of Rufaro Stadium to host this year’s Defence Forces Day celebrations invokes sentimental memories of the country’s first independence in 1980.
He made these sentiments when he officiated at Defence Forces Day commemorations yesterday.
“The choice of Rufaro Stadium invokes sentimental memories. It was at these historic grounds, on theeve of 18 April 1980, when the Union Jack was lowered and the Zimbabwean Flag hoisted.
“That symbolic act marked the birth of an independent and free Zimbabwe; it ushered us into a journey of yet again charting our own course and destiny.
“It was also in surrounding residential suburbs such as Mbare and Highfields where many of our citizens were brutalised for their resistance and rejection of the racist colonial administration.
“These neighbourhoods incubated and strengthened the resolve of many sons and daughters of Zimbabwe to wage the protracted liberation struggle for democracy, freedom and Independence,” he said.
Zwnews
