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He said Dr Mudenge would go down in the country’s history as part of the founding crop of bureaucrats who took over the running of Government at independent in 1980.
“In his case, he had to build a whole Ministry of Foreign Affairs from scratch, given that Rhodesians never ran such an open, professional structure. “Before long, Dr Mudenge would be sent on various sensitive missions abroad, culminating in his deployment to the United Nations in New York, as our Permanent Representative to that world body,” he said.
Although Dr Mudenge served in other ministries and as permanent secretary or as Cabinet Minister, President Mugabe said the country would remember him most for the contributions he made in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Dr Mudenge was the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs when the land programme was initiated and he made sure that Zimbabwe’s voice was never drowned by powerful nations that were against the programme — Britain, European countries and America.
“He bore the brunt of those heady days, always standing steadfast for his people’s rights and interests, which he fully grasped and understood as an historian.
“Today that powerful and evocative voice is gone, silenced by this untimely death,” he said.
President Mugabe said Dr Mudenge would also be remembered for the outstanding work he did in the education sector.
“Under his watchful eye, many universities offering diverse disciplines were formed in almost all our provinces. Today our country run the whole gamut by way of focus, all of them forward looking, but never in a way that ignores or undermines our cultural rootedness,” he said.
President Mugabe said Dr Mudenge would be missed by many people whose lives he touched as a teacher, scholar, diplomat, bureaucrat, politician and Minister in Government.
Online Reporter