BULAWAYO is to rename its busiest street after the late Vice President Joshua Nkomo, officials said.
Main Street, which will also host the former ZAPU leader and liberation icon’s statue, is to be renamed Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Street, Bulawayo mayor Thaba Moyo said on Tuesday.
“As soon as the statue is erected, the street name will be changed,” Moyo said. “We wish Father Zimbabwe’s name to be known throughout the world.
“The name will be on all maps of the city and those who do not know about the great man now, will soon learn about him and his history.”
The decision to rename the street, he said, was adopted unanimously by the MDC-T run council last year.
A bronze statue of the nationalist leader was erected at the intersection of Main Street and 8th Avenue in August last year, but it was taken down after Nkomo’s family complained it was too small.
A reworked statue was expected to be installed at the same site before Heroes Day earlier this month, but Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi, who is in charge of the project, said they were behind schedule.
The city’s main airport, formerly the Bulawayo Airport, was renamed the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport in 2001.
Nkomo, affectionately known as ‘Father Zimbabwe’ for his contribution to the country’s struggle for independence from British colonial rule, died on July 1, 1999.