Declaration of National Monument Gonakudzingwa Detention Camp Monument
Gonakudzingwa Detention Camp in Chiredzi District, where nationalist leaders including Joshua Nkomo were detained, has been declared a National Monument.
The Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage has declared the Gonakudzingwa Detention Camp a National Monument under section 20 of the National Museums and Monuments Act [Chapter 25:11].
The camp is in Chiredzi District, on Surveyor-General's 1:50 000 map sheets 2231 B1 and B3, Malvernia. The notice fixes the protected area by an eight-point polygon starting at grid reference UL 642 596 and running through points B to H — a series of 200m cross-legs joined by longer runs of 1 607m, 2 133,64m, 1 934,64m and 1 807m — back to the starting point.
Declaration brings the site under the Act's protection: alteration, excavation, damage or development requires the approval of National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe. The notice imposes no fees and creates no separate offence.
No commencement date is stated; the notice was gazetted on 26 July 2024. One caveat on the survey description: the leg from F to G is written out in words as one thousand nine hundred and thirty-three point six four metres but printed in figures as 1 934,64m. The surveyed diagram, not the gazette text, should be relied on for the exact boundary.
What changed
- Gonakudzingwa Detention Camp declared a National Monument under section 20 of the National Museums and Monuments Act
- Protected area fixed by an eight-point surveyed polygon on map sheets 2231 B1 and B3, Chiredzi District
Who this affects
- Chiredzi District landholders and Chiredzi Rural District Council
- National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe
- Heritage and liberation-history researchers and tour operators
- Anyone planning development near the Malvernia border area
Plain-language summary — not legal advice. Always read the full instrument.