adminA HUMBLE carpenter with the amazing ability to join together planks into one solid piece of furniture would not have failed to bring together all the people of Zimbabwe regardless of tribe into one coherent body. A veteran freedom fighter, a father figure and a cultural icon, are just a few of the superlatives that are apt in describing the celebrated life of a true son of the soil, the late Vice-President of Zimbabwe Dr Simon Vengai Muzenda.
The late Dr Muzenda who departed to the great beyond on this date in 2003 was a larger than life character whose contribution to the nation’s body politic was immense and earned himself the monicker Soul of the Nation at his death.
He was a selfless, dedicated, loyal and humble figure whose stature not only symbolised the wholeness of the nation that he fought for but the unity and solidness of the country Zimbabwe.
Dr Muzenda or simply Dr Mzee as he was affectionately known, became a father not only to his family but to the family of Zimbabwe and he dedicated his entire life to be a servant of the people.
Despite occupying one of the politically revered offices in the country, Dr Muzenda remained so much connected to the grassroots and identified so well with the villagers even to the point of sitting at various village beer drinking gatherings.
He was a very good listener who would give his ear without measure to the people’s problems and would always make sure that he does his best to ensure that they were resolved timeously.
Dr Mzee was a son of the soil who remained true to his traditional beliefs but was neither a traditional healer nor a herbalist as has been said in some circles. He was a Christian who was baptised in the Roman Catholic Church and remained there until the time of his death.
Sunday News had the opportunity to talk to the late nationalist’s soul mate Cde Maud Muzenda who said she still felt the irreplaceable void that was created by death when it robbed her of her husband who had become her best friend.
She spoke of how as a nurse she used to help comrades such as Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa and others with treatment and other medical stuff whenever there was a need.
She, however, expressed disappointment at what she said was lack of recognition of the contribution made by her husband to the country saying the naming of schools some of which were built through Dr Muzenda and even roads in honour of him seemed to be a painful process, yet other schools and roads still carried the names of colonialists.
Cde Maud narrated the journey that they travelled with her husband from the days of the liberation struggle into independent Zimbabwe.
She described the journey as one that was painful and strenuous, and characterised by arrests and harassment by the white colonial regime.
“I was working as a nurse at Mvuma Mission Hospital during the days of nationalist politics and the liberation struggle but I was not so much in the spotlight. I was doing it under cover.
“At one time there were comrades who had escaped from Whahwa Prison after they were given life sentences by the cruel Smith regime. I saw them and identified some of them and I took care of them. It was kind of risky as it was a serious offence had it been known that they were under my custody. All this I was doing for my husband who had inculcated in me the value and cause of the fighting.
“My husband was quite loving and very responsible. This is not to say we did not have problems at all, we had them but we always had a way of solving them without quarrelling. I do not remember him beating me up to the time of his death. I would say I was very lucky getting married to a man who was caring, loving and principled,” said Mbuya Muzenda, as she is known.
She said she remembered the time when she and her daughter Tsitsi (now Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs) were arrested after they had gone to visit Dr Mzee during his period of incarceration at Whahwa.
“We went to see him and he asked me to give him my jersey and I did. He went back and brought back the jersey but all this was in the eyes of the prison security guards who became suspicious and searched us when we were going out only to find he had wrapped a letter detailing how Cde Leopold Takawira had died in prison. They took the letter and returned the jersey.
“That led to me and Tsitsi being arrested and detained. We were only released the following day after the doctor I was working under phoned the police,” she said.
Mbuya Muzenda added that her husband was very kind and she also understood that he had a big family — the family Zimbabwe where he dedicated much of his time to. She said that he was very traditional and enjoyed traditional dishes such as pumpkin leaves with dovi, audible ants (majuru) as well as sorghum and rapoko sadza. Mice (mbeva) were also part of the delicacy that the late Vice-President enjoyed.
His humility was the umbilical cord that connected him with the villagers.
Cde Josiah Hungwe and Minister of State for Masvingo Province Cde Shuvai Mahofa are among the crop of politicians who were mentored by Dr Mzee.
They spoke passionately of him describing him as a unifier. They concurred that had he been around most of the things that are occurring in the party and in Government were not going to happen.
Cde Hungwe said Dr Mzee loved everyone and only hated Satan. He said the late Vice-President was a natural leader who did not want to go to school to perfect any of his qualities.
Cde Mahofa said he was a down to earth kind of politician who detested corruption and maintained an open door policy that helped him connect very well with the communities.
She said Dr Mzee was the cement that unified the party and had he been around the factions and factional fighting were not going to be there.
“We have not yet seen the person who qualifies to be in his position. It was only him and the President Cde Robert Mugabe. Of course we all started in Zapu under Cde Joshua Nkomo but Cde Mzee remained a fountain of wisdom even to most Zapu guys because he had the country at heart,” said Cde Mahofa.
Born on 28 October 1922 in Gutu District of what was then the Victoria Province of Southern Rhodesia, Cde Muzenda attended Nyamande Primary School before proceeding to Gokomere Mission and later to Domboshava where he trained as a teacher.
In 1945, Dr Mzee demonstrated a high degree of political consciousness when he turned down a farming scholarship to train as an agricultural administrator, arguing that such a career will lead him to a collision course with his own people as the job required him to supervise the killing of cattle belonging to fellow African people.
Dr Muzenda then went to teach at Empandeni Mission where he met President Mugabe. The two became friends. His passion for education made him to enrol at Marianhill College in South Africa for a three year Diploma in Carpentry. After completing the course, he worked in Durban, South Africa before returning home in 1950.
It was then that he married his childhood sweetheart, Maud Matsikidze. Armed with the political experience that he earned from his sojourn in South Africa, Dr Muzenda became involved in trade unionism in Bulawayo, becoming prominent in 1953 when he was elected Secretary General of the African Voice. He became a mentor to many who went on to become prominent nationalists.
Dr Muzenda was also one of the guiding personalities who were instrumental in the formation of National Development Party (NDP) in 1960.
He was later elected to be the NDP Organising Secretary for Masvingo.
When the NDP was banned, Dr Mzee became the administrative secretary for Zapu in the then Fort Victoria. Cde Muzenda was a renowned poet. Such a path, however, landed him in trouble in 1962 when he recited the famous Nehanda Nyakasikana poem. He was banned from entering the area.
Represented by the late firebrand barrister and later Zanu-PF chairman, Cde Hebert Chitepo in court, Dr Muzenda successfully challenged the ban. However, he was again arrested in Zvishavane for an alleged seditious speech blamed for igniting riots in the town.
He was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment but served only two years which he described as a time of study.
Upon his release, he attended Zanu’s first congress in Gweru in 1964 where he was elected Deputy Organising Secretary. Soon after his election, he was arrested for possessing a pistol and was sent to Sikombela where he reunited with President Mugabe. Upon his release, he moved to Zambia, then to Mozambique. Dr Muzenda suffered a personal tragedy as he lost one of his daughters Theresa during the Chimoio attack. He became Vice-President of Zanu-PF at its congress in exile held in Chomoio in 1977. On the diplomatic front, he attended the Geneva Conference in 1976, Lancaster House as well as the Malta and Dar es Salaam talks.
In recognition of his selfless and unparallel contribution to the liberation struggle, Dr Muzenda was appointed Zimbabwe’s first Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1980. In 1988, he was appointed Vice-President of the Republic of Zimbabwe.
Online Reporter