Cuba donates military residue from epic Angola battle to Zimbabwe museum

By Caleb Chikwawawa

The Cuban government is set to hand over for display in Zimbabwe’s museum, some residue of military artillery used in the epic Battle of Cuito Cuanavale that turned the screws on apartheid South Africa and also led to a watershed transformation in the political architecture of Southern Africa in the early 1990s.

Representatives from the National Council of National Heritage of the Republic of Cuba and officials Zimbabwe’s Institute of African Knowledge (INSTAK) on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the transfer of the equipment for display in the Museum of African Liberation in Harare.

The MoU was signed in Havana, Cuba, by INSTAK Chief Executive Officer, Ambassador Kwame Muzawazi and the Director-General of the National Council of National Heritage, Ms Sonja Perez Mojena.

This is according to a media release by the Institute of African Knowledge (INSTAK), which is spearheading the construction of the iconic Liberation City, a 101-hecatre multipurpose development.

“The agreement formalises how the two parties will coordinate collaboration in the Pan-African Memorial Park and the Museum of African Liberation, which are projects being implemented by INSTAK,” read the media release.

Also present at the landmark signing ceremony were Brigadier-General Million Ndlovu of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF), and Cuba’s Vice-Minister of Culture, Ms Lizette Martinez Luzardo.

After the ceremony, Mojena said Africa and the Caribbean island had an unbreakable bond, sealed by the blood split by Cuban fighters in support of the continent’s liberation.

She said Afro-Cuban unity had helped defeat one of the greatest enemies of humanity in the form of colonialism and apartheid.

“Ms Perez Mojena said the MoU would help facilitate the preservation of this important history for all generations to come.

“More specifically, the outcome of the agreement would ensure both the people of Cuba and Africa appreciate better who they were and where they had come from.”

Earlier, Ambassador Muzawazi described the donation of the military equipment as an immensely generous gesture by the people of Cuba to the people of Africa.

“This is equipment that was used in the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale, which really was a defining moment in the history of Africa.

“It signified the beginning of the end of apartheid, the independence of Namibia, and the victory of the Angolan people in their struggle for self-determination, peace and development,” he said.

The Battle of Cuito Cuanavale was fought intermittently between August 14, 1987, and March 23, 1988, in Angola.

It involved the People’s Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA) and Cuban forces against South African troops and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) during the Angolan Civil War and the South African Border War.

It is widely considered a turning point in Southern African history, as it marked a significant defeat for South Africa, leading to a shift in the political landscape and contributing to the eventual end of apartheid.

The battle’s outcomes had lasting effects on the region, influencing the independence movements in Namibia and the broader struggle for democracy in Southern Africa.

Muzawazi added, “So, we think that the transfer of the equipment will mark a very significant milestone, which is the transformation of the Museum of African Liberation into a five-star museum.

“A five-star museum carries the spirit and the soul of the times gone by through tangibles.

“The Museum of African Liberation will not be an information centre masquerading as a museum. These are the real artefacts that carry the spirit and the soul of Africa’s glorious past.

“The signing of the MoU is the culmination of a series of formal and informal high-level engagements between the two countries.

“The first of these was initiated by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Dr Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, when he dispatched his Special Envoy, Ambassador Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, to present the Museum of African Liberation Project to H.E President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez of Cuba in 2022.

“Several engagements followed, resulting in the notable handover of a variety of artefacts to the Museum of African Liberation by Mr Esteban Lazo Hernández, the President of the Cuban National Assembly on March 3, 2025.

“The agreement on the transfer of military equipment from the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale, and for collaboration on the Pan-African Memorial Park, represent the crowning jewels of this diplomatic engagement.

“Cuba is the only non-African country that deployed its own troops to confront apartheid in Africa, and the Museum of African Liberation has set aside space to memorialise this noteworthy contribution.

“The highlight of Cuba’s military support for Africa’s independence was its involvement in the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale from November 1987 to March 1988. In that battle, Cuban soldiers got into the trenches with Angolan and Namibian freedom fighters to first stop the advance of apartheid forces, and then to repel them and send them retreating to South Africa.

“That colossal victory greatly weakened imperialist-backed rebels in Angola, speeded up Namibia’s quest for independence, and paved the way for majority rule in South Africa. Today, the SADC region observes 23 March, which was the last day of the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale, as Southern Africa Liberation Day.

“Though physically based in Zimbabwe, the Museum houses material from all African countries that waged armed struggles to liberate themselves, in addition to documenting the contributions of African and non-African countries and organisations that supported the liberation struggle politically, militarily, diplomatically and morally.

“The Museum of African Liberation is conceived as a monument to the epic struggle to liberate the African people from European colonialism and apartheid,” read the statement.