Online Reporter
Wallace Ruzvidzo-Herald Reporter
COVENANT bonds must be honoured and treated with utmost seriousness as they represent the highest form of commitment and trust, President Mnangagwa has said.
Speaking in a recent interview with the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), the President cited his own liberation war pact with the late Cde Stephen Zvinavashe as a lifelong obligation he faithfully upheld.
He said the covenant he entered with the late nationalist in the liberation struggle was not symbolic, but a binding agreement that shaped his sense of duty, loyalty and responsibility beyond the battlefield.
The President said the agreement, made at the height of the armed struggle, bound him and Cde Zvinavashe to take care of each other’s families should one of them fall in the war — a promise he honoured without compromise.
Cde Zvinavashe was the elder brother to the late national hero and former Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, General Vitalis Musungwa Gava Zvinavashe.
“With Zvinavashe, we agreed that in the struggle we were likely to die, but it’s a possibility one of us or both of us may survive . . . whoever survives should look after the siblings of the other,” said President Mnangagwa.
“I kept the faith. That is why I looked after Zvinavashe’s young man (General Zvinavashe),” he said.
President Mnangagwa said his commitment to the covenant extended beyond words, revealing that he later bought a farm which he split with Cde Zvinavashe’s family in fulfilment of the pledge.
“Yes, it was because of that agreement.
“Well, I kept mine (covenant),” he said.
Covenants, historically used across cultures, symbolise binding unity and loyalty.
While such practices are less common today, they have long represented solemn obligations rooted in trust and honour.
During the interview, President Mnangagwa also reflected on his role in regional diplomacy, particularly during Mozambique’s civil war when RENAMO was fighting the FRELIMO Government.
He said he served as Zimbabwe’s principal emissary between the late former President Robert Mugabe and Mozambique’s former President Samora Machel, working alongside Fernando Honwana, who represented Mozambique.
“Honwana, on the Mozambican side, was the emissary between Samora and Mugabe… from the Zimbabwean side, I was the emissary.
“So, the two of us — Honwana and myself — were the two principal negotiators,” said the President.
President Mnangagwa revealed that he also participated in the Rome General Peace Accords that ended the Mozambican civil war, including preparatory negotiations held in Rome under the Sant’Egidio mediation process.
“Principally, it was us who brought these parties to the table. We went to Rome first to prepare the ground before the principals arrived,” he said.
“We went to Rome — Sant’Egidio — we first went ourselves preparing the ground there with Honwana and later on the principals came, but we stayed there for a while preparing the ground.”
The President further disclosed that he was entrusted by the late former President Mugabe to handle defence-related negotiations during the Democratic Republic of Congo conflict, despite not being the Minister of Defence at the time.
“Mahachi, I think was the Minister of Defence, but for some reason Mugabe was sending me, I didn’t know why, and I had to do the defence job for Mahachi.
“Instead of Mahachi going, Mugabe would send me. I don’t know why, but that’s what happened,” he said.
He said he remained involved in defence negotiations until the end of the conflict, which began in the late 1990s and involved several African countries and armed groups.
“Yeah, I was dealing with the defence issues despite that I was not the Minister of Defence, I was Minister of Security, but for some reason Mugabe felt I should handle the negotiation,” said President Mnangagwa.
Londile Moyo