Online Reporter
Raymond Jaravaza, [email protected]
ZIMBABWE National Army (ZNA) Chief of Staff Quartermaster Staff, Major-General Simo Maseko, has called on Zimbabweans to jealously guard the country’s independence and sovereignty in honour of liberation heroes who sacrificed their lives for freedom.
Maj-Gen Maseko made the remarks yesterday during a funeral parade held at Imbizo Barracks in Bulawayo in honour of the late Colonel (Retired) Patron Khutshwekhaya.
He said Zimbabwe’s independence was attained through immense sacrifice and urged citizens to uphold the legacy of both living and fallen heroes.
Col (Retired) Khutshwekhaya died last Friday at the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH). He was 75, and is survived by wife, Egnetha, five children and several grandchildren.
“Deeply outraged by the racially inspired inequalities and institutionalised injustices that prevailed under the Rhodesian minority regime, the late Colonel (Retired) Khutshwekhaya abandoned his studies in 1975 and crossed the border into Zambia through Botswana and joined the liberation struggle as a Zipra cadre.
“He stayed at Nampundu in Zambia and during that time Zipra recruits were expected to undergo training in Tanzania. Before being moved to Tanzania, he and other recruits were sent to a new camp at Mwembesi and later proceeded to Mgagao,” said Maj-Gen Maseko.
He said the late senior officer was a distinguished military officer whose work will forever be cherished by Zimbabweans.
“Above all, he remained steadfast and focused in the face of neo-colonialism machinations by our ditractors. The country will not forget the sacrifices that he and other heroes and heroines made for the freedom of our motherland,” said Maj Gen Maseko.
“We must defend what they stood for, which is the independence and sovereignty of our country at all costs. We must uphold the principles and values of the late senior officer.”
The late Col (Rtd) Khutshwekhaya underwent further training in the then Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
“In 1976 he trained as a weapons specialist in the USSR at the Simferopol Military Academy for over eight months alongside Volontiya Ndlovu and Ntando Madzvamuse who is now the Ambassador to Angola,” said Maj Gen Maseko.
“The following year they advanced to the front as Zipra forces began forming regular brigades. On the front he operated in the Zambezi escarpment in areas including Kariba, Chirundu and Kanyemba.”
After independence, he joined the ZNA and rose through the ranks after completing training at Inkomo Barracks.
“He also attended the senior learner’s course at Pay Corps Training School and on completion he was commissioned as an officer and posted to Headquarters 1 Infantry Brigade as a paymaster. He had a wide range of operational experience and participated in the Mozambique and DRC campaigns where he used his liberation struggle experience to great effect,” said Maj Gen Maseko.
His fellow comrade in the armed struggle Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Njabulo Gwembetsha described him as a dedicated cadre who was strongly against white minority rule injustices.
“We met in 1975 in Botswana and got close when recruits were involved in the construction of a refugee camp in Francistown. At Nampundwe Camp he was my platoon commander and I remember how dedicated he was to freeing our country from colonial rule,” he said.
“He was one of the cadres that were selected to go for further training in the USSR and I remained in Tanzania,” said Lt Col Gwembetsha.
Family spokesperson and sister Mrs Virginia Mangena said her brother will be buried at Lady Stanley Cemetery today.
“He was a unifier in the family and was always lending a helping hand at funerals or weddings. He will be missed dearly,” said Mrs Mangena.
Bongani Ndlovu