Chronicle Editor
Mashudu Netsianda, Senior Reporter
THE ruling ZANU-PF party has sent a message of condolence to the family of the late Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (Zpra) commander, Cde Abraham Dumezweni Nkiwane, who died yesterday at 93.
Cde Nkiwane succumbed to prostate cancer at the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) where he was admitted. He was among the first cadres to smuggle weapons into Southern Rhodesia in 1962 and became a Zpra commanders operating under the Special Affairs and Training unit.
In a statement, Zanu-PF Secretary for Administration, Dr Obert Mpofu, said the ruling partly learnt with shock and grief following the death of Cde Nkiwane.
“The tragic elevation to glory of former Zpra Commander Abraham Dumezweni Nkiwane once again reminds us that African liberation memory is increasingly becoming vulnerable as every day goes by,” he said.
“With many of his kind slowly departing the earth, the nation and the entire pan-African fraternity is being robbed of its historical sense of being.
“While this sends shock and sadness, our relief remains deeply rooted in the prominent liberation legacy, which will be indelibly immortalised by the independence of our nation.
“As such, we celebrate him as his departed spirit will continue to guide the fight against colonialism in all its manifestations.”
Dr Mpofu said Cde Nkiwane was a pathfinder to the forever cherished objectives of Zimbabwe’s anti-colonial struggle.
“His ambition for Zimbabwe’s independence motivated many of my time and others who went ahead of us to join the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army. By 1961 Cde Nkiwane was privileged to be under the direct ideological tutelage of the late pan-Africanist, President of the United National Independence Party (UNIP) and founding father of Zambia, the late Dr Kenneth Kaunda,” he said.
“He served UNIP right up to his early involvement in the operationalisation of the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU)’s activities when it opened its offices in Lusaka. It will be recalled that as early as 1962, Cde Nkiwane alongside the late Misheck Velaphi Ncube and Kennias Mlalazi initiated the entry of the first set of arms, which pioneered the ZPRA rooted revolt against the settler regime.”
Dr Mpofu said Cde Nkiwane’s inaugural pledge to the making of the country’s independence together with others produced the unequivocal triumph of the nationalist movement against the illegitimate Rhodesian state.
“The present success of the liberation movement in Zimbabwe and the region is indebted to individuals like Cde Nkiwane and many pan-African minded cadres of his time. In 1965 ‘Bra Nkie’ as we affectionately called him, served as the Chief of Personnel and Training in the ZPRA Special Affairs High Command.”
Dr Mpofu said when he joined the struggle in 1967, Cde Nkiwane served Zpra alongside decorated High Command members such as Retired Colonel Tshinga Dube, late Dr Dumiso Dabengwa, Ackim Ndlovu, Robson Manyika, Gibson Mayisa, Arnold Gombakomba, Phelekezela Report Mphoko and Ambrose Mutinhiri.
He said Cde Nkiwane was a symbol of ultimate sacrifice and a foot soldier of the decolonisation project.
“From time to time, the late liberation stalwart was always in transit between Zambia, Angola, Tanzania and other nations, which served as sanctuaries for Zpra and ZAPU’s business. As he rests, the nation must be reminded that Cde Nkiwane remains a template of true commitment to the nation,” he said.
Online Reporter