adminZimbabweans from all corners of the country and across the political divide yesterday thronged the National Heroes Acre to pay their last respects to one of the gallant sons of the soil, Cde Isack Stanslaus Gorerazvo Mudenge, who died in Masvingo on Thursday and was buried at the national shrine.
Cde Mudenge, who was the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education and was due to address the 39th Southern African Society for Education Conference on Thursday afternoon, collapsed and died in his room at Great Zimbabwe Hotel just before he addressed the conference. The previous day, Cde Mudenge had officially opened St Patrick’s Hotel in Bulawayo.
Cde Mudenge, who sustained serious injuries after he was gored by a bull at his farm, had not fully recovered but he died while on duty, a demonstration of his commitment to duty.
A passionate educationist who had the poor at heart, Cde Mudenge came up with a number of schemes such as the cadetship to enable the poor to enjoy their right to education.
A victim of the of Ian Smith’s oppressive regime, Cde Mudenge was in 1966 arrested and detained for one year at the notorious Gonakudzingwa detention centre for joining the protests against the Unilateral Declaration of Independence by Smith.
At Independence, Cde Mudenge, who started as a civil servant, occupied different government posts locally and abroad and these included, among others, being appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs between 1995 and 2005.
In 2005, Cde Mudenge was appointed the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, the post he held until the time of his death.
Cde Mudenge, who worked in a number of countries that included Sierra Leone, Swaziland and Lesotho, could have chosen to remain in foreign lands enjoying the perks that come with many years of professional experience but at independence, he decided to return home and work for his motherland.
According to the President, Cde Mugabe, Cde Mudenge will go down in the country’s history as part of the founding crop of bureaucrats who took over the running of the Government at independence in 1980.
“In his case, he had to build a whole Ministry of Foreign Affairs from scratch given that the Rhodesians never ran such an open, professional structure,” said Cde Mugabe.
Today, Zimbabweans are poorer without the leadership of Cde Mudenge’s calibre but however take solace in the fact that he has left a rich legacy that should guide us as a nation.
What Cde Mudenge practically demonstrated was that Zimbabwe should always come first in whatever we do as Zimbabweans. The fact that Cde Mudenge chose to forgo the luxuries of working in foreign lands where he was set to enjoy immense benefits given the many years of experience, shows how much he loved his motherland.
The only way we can pay back Cde Mudenge for his contributions to the country’s prosperity is to take over from where he left and strive to even do better.
Cde Mudenge’s vision was very pronounced and as such those that take over from him should find taking over the baton easy.
For example, his ministry’s policy that each province should have a state university has almost been accomplished.
We want to once again salute one of the country’s icons of the liberation struggle whose dedication and commitment to the country’s ideals and aspirations remained consistent.
Zimbabweans will be richer if they borrow from Cde Mudenge’s legacy of hard work and dedication to duty.
The poor, we want to believe, will continue to benefit from Cde Mudenge’s schemes such as the cadetship for many years to come.
Online Reporter
Londile Moyo