Liberation Camps Were Altars of Sacrifice, Not Bases of Corruption

By Edward Makuzva

Vice President and Second Secretary of ZANU PF, Rtd Gen. Dr. Constantino Chiwenga,has reminded Zimbabweans that the country’s freedom was bought with blood, courage and unshakable faith, not through corruption or moral decay.

Speaking during the official opening of the party’s 22nd National People’s Conference in Mutare, Dr Chiwenga said the liberation struggles in Mozambique and Zambia were far more than military outposts.

Dr Chiwenga revealed that they were sacred spaces where young men and women offered their lives for the birth of a free Zimbabwe.“

Those camps in Mozambique and Zambia were not just military outposts — they were altars of sacrifice, places where pain, courage and faith fused into the spirit of liberation,” Dr Chiwenga explained.

The Vice President said the cries of fallen heroes continue to echo through the hills and valleys of Zimbabwe, serving as a haunting reminder that independence was not a gift handed down, but a victory earned through immense suffering and unwavering conviction.

“The cries of those who fell still echo across these hills; their blood speaks from the soil, reminding us that our freedom was not inherited — it was earned by suffering, sealed in blood, and consecrated by unwavering conviction,” Dr Chiwenga added.

He emphasized that the values of the liberation struggle, unity, discipline, sacrifice, and integrity must continue to guide the nation. He lamented that some people have drifted from those ideals, choosing instead paths of greed, corruption and moral decay.

“They didn’t die for corruption, injustice and moral decay,” he warned.

“They died for a vision of a just, prosperous and united Zimbabwe.”

Dr Chiwenga’s remarks come at a time when the government continues to call for ethical leadership and patriotic service across all sectors.

His speech served as a powerful reminder that the freedom Zimbabweans enjoy today came at a heavy price and that the truest way to honour the fallen is to uphold the principles they fought and died for.

“We must always remember that we are not the Alpha and the Omega of Zimbabwe’s journey. Ours is to carry forward the torch passed to us by those who gave everything without expectation of reward.”

Some of them, like the late General Josiah Magama Tongogara, knew they would not see a liberated Zimbabwe but still fought.

They fought for the future, not for themselves.

Vision 2030, therefore, must be understood in the same light — as a Party and National covenant, not a personal pursuit.

“It is about the Zimbabwe we will bequeath to generations to come.

ZANU PF stands where it is today, because it has travelled a long, demanding journey of vision, unity, sacrifice, love and singleness of purpose”, said Dr Chiwenga.

He concluded by urging the younger generation to carry forward the torch of liberation with the same selflessness and faith that defined the freedom fighters of the 1960s and 1970s.

“Each generation,” he said, “must guard this freedom with integrity, lest we betray the sacred blood that watered the seeds of our independence.”