Online Reporter
Samuel Kadungure
News Editor
“THE distance we travel into the future is measured by how deeply we honour the past,” goes the saying.
It reminds us that tomorrow is built on yesterday’s sacrifices — on pioneers who braved the long, arduous road. Among them was the late Pastor Harry Dumba.
Last week, Denzva Village in Makoni South became a place of pilgrimage as scores gathered to celebrate the life of a hero of faith whose legacy continues to shape Adventism in Zimbabwe.
The village — a tapestry of homesteads linked by winding footpaths and memory — swelled with mourners.
Hundreds of Seventh-Day Adventists, clad in their distinctive green uniforms, sat shoulder-to-shoulder, hymnals open, their voices rising and falling like the rolling hills of the Eastern Highlands.
Beneath a marquee, the white-domed coffin of Pastor Dumba, aged 94, rested solemnly on a bier of pine. His passing at Arundel Hospital — owned by Dr Kudakwashe Tagwirei — marked the end of a remarkable earthly journey, but his footprints remain etched in the spiritual soil of Zimbabwe.
“The further we are able to go, is determined by how much we look back,” said Mr Obey Chimuka, representing Dr Tagwirei, his words carrying the weight of a man who had sat with the deceased in 2023, microphone in hand, recording Adventism history in Zimbabwe at Bluffhill Studio.
“For three hours, Pastor Dumba spoke, describing scot-carts groaning under the weight of bibles, bicycles with patched tyres carrying preachers across districts where no car had ever passed. He spoke of nights spent under trees, with the likes of Mlalazi, Mutungwazi, Gwasira, and Chimuka – names you must know if you know Adventism in Zimbabwe.”
You could hear a pin drop. Then a woman in the front row, her green uniform faded by years of Sabbath services, began to cry softly. She was baptised by Pastor Dumba in 1968 in a river near Nyazura.
“He did not just dip us in water,” she whispered later. “He planted us.”
Pastor Dumba was not born famous. He was forged. Born into a time when black preachers were expected to follow, not lead, he chose to build. For decades, he traversed Manicaland on a bicycle that squeaked more than it rolled, later graduating to a scot-cart pulled by oxen.
No stipend. No SUV. Just conviction.
“He believed education was key to transforming lives, at personal level and national level. In Adventism, we believe in three pillars – educate the hand, heart, and head. That makes a person, not only educated, but a relevant and complete contributor to the economy and society,” explained Mr Chimuka.
In church halls and schoolrooms, he taught children to read by lamplight.
He argued with missionaries who wanted obedience without agency.
He insisted that faith without development was a house without a foundation.
“He is in the hall of fame of black pioneers of Adventism. When whites chronicle their history, they remember each other’s contribution. We, as black people, are the ones who forget. Not today. Not for Pastor Dumba,” said Mr Chimuka.
Although Dr Tagwirei who was recently co-opted into the ZANU PF Central Committee, and a senior member of the SDA Church, failed to attend the burial, he ensured that Pastor Dumba’s departure was not ordinary.
Mr Chimuka announced the Harry Dumba Scholarship Foundation.
“Dr Tagwirei said to me, ‘let us establish a scholarship foundation in honour of Pastor Harry Dumba’. The main reason is because we want the legacy of Pastor Dumba – the legacy of education, values, development, and continuous improvement – never to die. It must be inculcated and imparted to coming generations. That will be the ethos,” he said.
Besides the scholarship, Dr Tagwirei also met all the funeral expenses.
But the scholarship was bigger than a funeral bill. It was Dr Tagwirei taking Pastor Dumba’s dying breath and turning it into oxygen for children who will never meet him.
“This scholarship is more than a gesture of goodwill. It is a lasting investment in Zimbabwe’s future. By supporting bright, but underprivileged learners from Manicaland, we create opportunities for them to excel, contribute to their communities, and advance national goals. Education remains the greatest equaliser,” said Cde Kudzi Chipanga, Pastor Dumba’s maternal nephew, and ZANU PF Makoni District Co-ordination Committee (DCC) chairman.
“Dr Tagwirei called me saying, ‘I heard your uncle has died. I am very far away. Go and see your brother (Mr) Obey Chimuka, he will make sure everything is covered.’ And Dr Tagwirei helped us with all the funeral expenses. I want to thank President Mnangagwa for having foot soldiers like Dr Tagwirei, who toe his line and follow his vision. As you said, come with developmental proposals, we will be knocking on your doorsteps very soon,” he said.
The scholarship will be governed by a covenant and constitution drafted with Cde Chipanga and family representative.
It seeks to fund learners who show academic promise, but lack means. The Bridging Gap Foundation, Dr Tagwirei’s foundation arm, will administer it.
It was not the first time Dr Tagwirei came publicly with a blanket pledge. He has already sponsored boreholes, roads and charity donations across the province.
Among the mourners were Makoni South legislator, Honourable Albert Nyakuedzwa, who said: “The new hospital and clinics which are being constructed will bring health services closer to the people,” he said, referring to the 130-bed hospital under construction at Nyazura Mission Farm by the SDA Church, with support from Dr Tagwirei and Mr Chimuka. It will offer emergency, maternal, surgical and inpatient services – a referral centre for clinics stretched thin.
They are also building Chin’ono Clinic and Chihombe Madhara Chimuka Clinic, named after Mr Chimuka’s late war veteran uncle.
“Some communities presently travel more than 15km to reach existing health centres, which is not recommended,” said Honourable Nyakuedzwa.
He thanked the businessmen for availing diesel to refurbish five gravel roads and drilling a borehole at each traditional leader’s homestead.
As the burial ended and soil fell on the coffin, the story did not. It shifted from grief to responsibility, from looking back to building forward.
The late Pastor Dumba believed in educating the hand, heart and head.
Now his name will open classroom doors.
His blood, sweat and tears will become textbooks, tuition and dreams, empowering the next generation of leaders, innovators and nation-builders who will drive Zimbabwe towards Vision 2030 and beyond.
