Chronicle Editor
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
FORMER army senior officer Retired Colonel Kenneth Chitambo was laid to rest at the Bulawayo Provincial Heroes Acre in Nkulumane yesterday with speakers describing him as a gallant son of the soil who defended the revolution from the time he joined the armed struggle.
Speaking during a befitting funeral parade at the Lookout Masuku Barracks, on the outskirts of Bulawayo, Commander Zimbabwe Defence Forces General Phillip Valerio Sibanda chronicled the life of the late Rtd Col Chitambo describing his wartime experiences from the time he joined the struggle in 1973 crossing into Zambia via Botswana until his death.
Besides Gen Sibanda at the funeral parade, other senior army officers were Major-Generals Hlanganani Dube and Thomas Moyo, several Brigadier-Generals and other senior officers, officers from the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services, Air Force of Zimbabwe as well as Goverment and Zanu-PF officials who included the Secretary for Administration, Cde Obert Mpofu.
The provincial chairperson of war veterans Bulawayo Province, Cde Cephas Ncube said he was happy Rtd Col Chitambo was now resting with his fellow comrades.
“The most important thing is that Kenny is now resting here with his fellow soldiers that he used to command. People who lie here are his mates from the days of the liberation struggle and he commanded them. There was a question on what credentials one needed to be a national hero. But the history of a man speaks for itself just like Kenny here, we have no doubt that in Zipra by that time he was one of the senior commanders. To us as war veterans we have suffered a great loss,” he said.
Cde Christopher Dube who spoke on behalf of Zanu-PF also shared the same sentiments.
“We recently buried our chairman Professor Callistus Ndlovu and while we were still awaiting his burial we decided and asked for a similar status for Rtd Col Chitambo. However, it did not go according to plan,” he said.
The Minister of State for Bulawayo Province Cde Judith Ncube said she was equally moved.
“Something has to move us and shake us. I agree with the speakers that also feel the same way. However, we need to sit down and speak about the things that affect us like this, when you look at the life history of Rtd Col Chitambo it remains scant yet he has an amazing history,” she said.
Rtd Col Chitambo whose pseudo name was Cde Khwela Dliwayo died on 18 February at Mpilo Central Hospital about a week after he was operated on. He had a spinal problem that he developed at the beginning of the year. He was 76. Rtd Col Chitambo was born on 10 April 1951 in Mutasa Communal Area in Manicaland Province as a second-born in a family of three boys. At the age of five, his family was forcibly removed from Mutasa area by the then Rhodesia government and resettled in Marange, 1956.
He went to school at Gonora Primary School from 1959 to 1963 and between 1964 and 1967 he was at St Columbu’s Mission in Makokoba, Bulawayo. For his secondary education between 1968 and 1971 he was at Mzilikazi High School. Despite passing the Cambridge School Certificate examinations with more than five O-level subjects, he was not accepted back at the school to do his Lower Sixth in 1972 as he had been listed as an undesirable student due to his involvement in student activities against the then government policy on education.
He then got a job at a Bulawayo firm, which he left after 10 months and crossed the border to Zambia via Botswana in May 1973. Rtd Col Chitambo received his military training at Morogoro in Tanzania and his group of recruits was made up of dedicated youngsters who were later on to form the core of Zipra commanders and distinguished themselves on the battlefield. His peers included Gilbert Khumalo, Todd Mpisi, Tizzy, Phinda, Mhandu (Sekuru) Magwaza and Gadaffi.
After training Rtd Col Chitambo was deployed in the Kariba area with four other freedom fighters to carry out reconnaissance tasks for possible crossing points into the then Rhodesia. As a result of his outstanding performance Rtd Col Chitambo was seconded to undergo further training in the then Soviet Union where his group was trained as battalion commanders. From the Soviet Union he returned to Tanzania where he and the late Major-General Jevan Maseko were appointed instructors. It was at this time that Col Chitambo and General PV Sibanda met at Morogoro Training Camp.
In the late 1976, Rtd Col Chitambo together with a group of about 80 Zipra cadres left Morogoro Zipra Training Camp under the command of Gen PV Sibanda where they joined their Zanla compatriots during the formation of the Zimbabwe People’s Army (ZIPA).
At Mgagao, they met among others now Vice-President, General (retired) Constantino Chiwenga, Air Chief Marshal (retired) Perrance Shiri, the late Major-General Amoth Chingombe. From early 1977 to February 1978 he was at CTT Training Camp. He was then appointed into Zipra High Command as Deputy Commissar.
Showing unflinching commitment to the armed struggle, Rtd Col Chitambo rose through the ranks to become a member of the Zipra High Command deputising the late Retired Colonel Richard Dube who was the Political Commissar.
After independence Rtd Col Chitambo was attested into the Zimbabwe National Army and worked at various stations. When the Government launched its food programme, Operation Maguta, Rtd Col Chitambo was deployed to Matabeleland South as the leader of the programme covering areas such as Maphisa and Plumtree. He retired from the army in 2012. Rtd Col Chitambo is survived by his wife Chipo and four children.
derick.khumalo