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FOUR Nyanga Rural District Council officials — three of whom were part of the delegation that had visited the sacred Chimoio Shrine in Mozambique — were involved in a road accident on Sunday morning on their way to the resort district.
Ministry of Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment youth officer and Ward 31 Zanu-PF chairman Cde Simbarashe Chizema died in the accident, while the councillors escaped with minor injuries.
The accident occurred near Dr Jane Farm, after Hartzell High School.
Councillors Edward Manda (Ward 2), Chiteto (Ward 3) and Daniel Makoni (Ward 25) were part of the delegation of 18-elected officials and their spouses who were returning from Mozambique — and on arrival in Mutare last Saturday evening opted to join Clr Moses Gutu and slept over in Mutare, while others proceeded home.
Clr Gutu, who is the Nyanga RDC chairperson, did not travel to Chimoio.
Clr Gutu was driving the car – which changed lanes to avoid hitting a cow and zig-zagged as he tried to avoid a head-on with an oncoming Toyota Hilux.
He eventually lost control of the vehicle which veered off the road and overturned three times and got extensively damaged.
Cde Chizema sustained serious head and internal injuries and died as he was being rushed to Mutare Provincial Hospital.
The other four were rushed to Old Mutare Mission Hospital and later transferred to Mutare Provincial Hospital, where they were treated and discharged.
Head of delegation of councillors to Chimoio Clr Cletos Muwi (Ward 20) said save for Clrs Gutu and Makoni who sustained leg fractures, the other two were fine.
“It is true that four councillors —three with whom we travelled to Chimoio — were involved in an accident that killed Simbarashe Chizema on Sunday morning. The accident happened just after Hartzell and the council chairperson, Clr Moses Gutu, was the one driving. The other two survivors are in good condition, save for Clrs Gutu and Makoni who sustained fractures on the legs,” said Clr Muwi.
Among those who travelled to Chimoio was one MDC-T official, Clr Viola Tongoona (Ward 24), who identified names of her relatives who died during the Chimoio massacres.
The councillors were taken through what happened on the fateful day by Cde Michael Nyakatawa.
Cde Nyakatawa and the councillors agreed that the shrine, though in a state of neglect, should serve as the nerve centre of both a historical and cultural heritage of the nation.
This is despite the fact that it is not compared with the National Heroes’ Acre that was erected at independence.
“Manicaland should take the lead to ensure that this happens. Manicaland contributed immensely due to its proximity to Mozambique, and most of the people who took part and died in the massacres were from Nyanga, which shares the border with Mozambique. So we must take the lead and ensure that as Manicaland, we mobilise and commemorate the Heroes’ Day at this shrine,” said Cde Nyakatawa.
Touched by the poor state of the shrine, the councillors anonymously agreed to mobilise institutional resources to maintain the entire yard, put up proper sanitary facilities, including bathrooms, renovate the cracking mass graves, sink a borehole, and replace the torn flags.
“The shrine is in a state of vandalism and we have resolved to spruce up the shrine. We have agreed that the entire place needs proper maintenance. The current state is unbefitting the contribution made by those buried her,” said Clr Muwi.
The councillors also appealed to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to compel schools to make annual visits to the shrines so that youths grasp the dynamics of the liberation struggle.
“Every year schools ask parents to pay for trips to resort centres, but I think these schools must be compelled to visit this place so that our children grow up with a better understanding of the liberation war and the sacrifice made by these comrades.
“We need to be more practical, they must come face-to-face with these acts of brutality by the white men,” said Clr Manda.
Online Reporter