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Conrad Mupesa–Mash West Bureau
Cde James Robert Dambaza Chikerema was the first Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) Vice President who contributed immensely to the rise of nationalism and the subsequent independence of Zimbabwe, yet he had been overlooked when it came to being awarded national hero status.
For 16 years, his family was in agony following the death of the renowned and illustrious gallant son of the soil, who had never been accorded a hero status.
Put into perspective, the announcement by President Mnangagwa last Monday at Heroes Acre during Heroes Day celebrations that Cde Chikerema was now being accorded the national hero status he so deserved, brought relief and closure to his family and the people countrywide.
The family and many other people who had been left dejected after the First Republic did not confer the national hero status on Cde Chikerema, have been elated by President Mnangagwa’s decision.
President Mnangagwa realised this omission and led in bestowing, not only on Cde Chikerema, but on another liberation war stalwart, the late Reverand Ndabaningi Sithole, with the national hero status due to them.
The two were rivals of former President Robert Mugabe and publicly criticised him, a move that led many to conclude that the denial of national hero status to them was because of this beef. But on Heroes Day last week, President Mnangagwa put the record straight.
“As the Second Republic, we are committed to giving a holistic account of our country’s long war of liberation,” he said while addressing thousands of people at the National Heroes Acre.
“We are, therefore, rising to the occasion and recognising other heroes and heroines such as the late Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole and the late James Chikerema for their historical contributions, despite their areas of weaknesses, with regards to the observance of the correct line of the Revolution.
“For that reason, we now honour the list of our national heroes and heroines. We forever remain indebted to all the heroes and heroines of our great country for the freedom, democracy and independence we enjoy to this day. Their sacrifices will never die.” Cde Chikerema’s widow, Philda, was short of words, saying her husband could now rest in peace after being recognised for the good works he did for the nation.
“We are elated as a family, we never thought that this day would come as our hopes as a family were fading out,” she said. “My husband was the first Vice President of ZAPU and whatever happened between him and the late President Mugabe, we are not concerned about it.
“We, as Zimbabwe, we want to move together as one family and keep supporting the ruling party and President Mnangagwa as they work to completely liberate Zimbabwe.”
Speaking at the family’s Nazareth Farm, five kilometres south of Kutama business centre, Cde Chikerema’s nephew, Raphel (68), said: “The Mugabe and Chikerema families are related and Robert was our uncle who grew up with James, who happens to be my father’s brother. “After having played a pivotal role in the liberation of Zimbabwe, including being in the presidium of Zapu and later forming his party FROLIZI, we were shocked to hear Sekuru (Robert Mugabe) say our relative (Cde James Chikerema) will not be given national hero status.
“Although he had time and again repeated that he wanted to be buried where his father and other relatives were buried, it was the befitting send off and status that we, as a family required for the works done by our late father.”
Nazareth Farm was purchased by Cde Chikerema’s father in the 1920’s from his pension payouts as a labourer and boarding master at Kutama Mission. A two-bedroomed-house constructed in 1931 where Cde Chikerema stayed before relocating to Salisbury (Harare) is still intact at the farm.
Cde Chikerema’s father had worked for missionaries where he helped build Chishawasha Mission (established in 1893) and Kutama Mission (1914).
“This farm, we believe was a bone of contention between my uncle and Mugabe as Mugabe took part of it to resettle people of the Gushungo totem,” said Raphel.
“Originally, we are from Chishawasha where our grandfather, James, helped build a mission school there. He was asked by the missionary through our great-grandfather to come here in Zvimba and help build Kutama Mission where first learners included Mugabe’s mother, Bona.
“According to the late Cde Chikerema, the grandfather always narrated how his father led resistance to European rule by the people under Chief Chinamhora, which he claimed we are part of that royal family.”
“Our father (Cde Chikerema) helped ignite the spirit of resistance which was witnessed and thwarted in the previous century when the whites invaded us. Although he differed with Mugabe, they both agreed on defeating the whites and liberating Zimbabwe.”
Cde Chikerema, Raphel said, believed Zimbabwe was liberated through various black majority forces that included ZANLA, ZIPRA and FROLIZI. “The three-year history of Frolizi when it operated in Mt Darwin has to be remembered and the decision by President Mnangagwa to honour James Chikerema is one such positive way towards doing that,” he said.
Cde Chikerema’s first born son to his late Batswana wife, Douglas (58), thanked President Mnangagwa for remembering and honouring his father in an interview at Nazareth Farm.
He said youths should guard the country jealously for the sake of the sacrifices made by the crop of his father, Cde Mugabe and Rev Sithole.
“My father was one of the first nationalists to rise in Zimbabwe and am happy that the Second Republic has honoured him with this status,” said Douglas.
“While we gladly accept the status bestowed on our father, we as a family would want him to remain interred at the Roman Catholic cemetery as per his wish.”
Douglas took time to narrate how his father would make sure that during school holidays they would go to Kutama, their rural areas, to have first hand experiences of what the liberation war was all about.
“I remember the clashes that took place at Magarazvuru shopping centre in 1979, a stone’s throw away from the farm,” he said. “We lost my father’s younger brother, Boligier and other two farm workers. The war frightened me but, my father continued to mention that Zimbabwe was never going to be ushered to us on a silver platter.”
Cde Chikerema died on 22 March, 2006, while Rev Sithole, who founded the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) in 1963, died in 2000.
Considering that Cde Chikerema and the late President Mugabe were related and had grown up in the Kutama area of Zvimba where they herded cattle together, Cde Chikerema’ family had been baffled at the decision to deny him national hero status.
Cde Chikerema was the first born in a family of seven, with some of his brothers and sisters named provincial liberation heroes.
While he had a fallout with Mugabe, other family members like his younger brother, Charles, who was once editor of The Herald was accorded provincial hero status.
Cde Chikerema died of cancer in the United States and was buried at Kutama Mission Cemetery where his father Joseph and other relatives were interred.
His other siblings included Kennedy, Agnes, Kizita and Josephine.
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter