Chronicle Editor
Lumbidzani Dima, Chronicle Reporter
LIBERATION war hero and former Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) senior officer, Colonel (Retired) Lwazi Tsheza has died.
He was 68.
Rtd Colonel Tsheza, whose pseudonym was Wine Dewa, died on Friday at the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) and will be laid to rest today at Bulawayo’s Umvutcha Cemetery, Zanu-PF Bulawayo provincial chairman Cde Jabulani Sibanda confirmed.
“This letter serves to confirm that the late Cde Lwazi Tsheza was a liberation war hero. He passed away on the 1st of July 2022 at UBH,” said Cde Sibanda in a brief shared with Chronicle yesterday.
According to his biography, Rtd Col Tsheza was born on 9 December 1953 at Nyamandlovu Hospital in Tsholotsho District, Matabeleland North.
He did his primary education at Sandawana Primary School in Tsholotsho and proceeded to three different Bulawayo primary schools including Insukamini, Mpumelelo and Mzilikazi.
He then went to Fatima Secondary in Lupane and later went to Gloag College of Agriculture.
Rtd Col Tsheza joined the liberation struggle in 1976 with his friend, Teddy Ndlovu.
The duo left the country via Botswana and were kept in a prison cell in Francistown before moving to Zambia.
Upon arrival in Zambia, he was taken to a transit camp at Nampundu in Lusaka where he met fellow comrades and Zipra officials.
After completing military training, he was part of the group that proceeded for advanced specialised training to Russia, then Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR).
He further went for intensive advanced conventional warfare training in Ukraine.
On his return to Zambia, he was assigned to be part of a team in charge of training and re-organising of Zipra artillery units.
Rtd Col Tsheza was later deployed under the second battalion for operations and appointed chief of artillery responsible for coordinating all fire support systems.
After independence in 1980, Rtd Col Tsheza was attested into the ZNA and later promoted to the rank of captain and rose through the ranks up to a colonel.
After serving 23 years as a member of ZNA, he retired in 2003 at the age of 50.
He is survived by his wife and four children.
Online Reporter