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Herald Reporter
President Mnangagwa yesterday joined the Msika family and the entire nation in commemorating the 13th anniversary of the passing on of the late national hero and former Vice President, Cde Joseph Wilfred Msika.
Cde Msika died on August 4, 2009.
In a statement yesterday, Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Dr Misheck Sibanda said Cde Msika was a gallant freedom fighter and fearless revolutionary, who belonged to a generation of nationalists that devoted an entire lifetime to the liberation of the motherland from the tough hand of colonial rule.
“From his days at the helm of the Textile and Allied Workers Union in 1954, Cde Msika played a crucial role in the transformation of nationalist movements into a formidable Patriotic Front which negotiated the end of the armed liberation struggle at the historic Lancaster House Conference in 1979,” said Dr Sibanda.
“After serving as independent Zimbabwe’s first Minister of Natural Resources, the ardent nation-builder was again instrumental, as ZAPU Vice President, in talks which culminated in the signing of the watershed Unity Accord of 1987.
As Vice President of the Republic of Zimbabwe from 1999 to 2009, Cde Msika devoted his energies to supporting the Land Reform Programme which restored the land to its rightful owners, the people of Zimbabwe.
“This too required steadfastness and resolve, and Cde Msika ably demonstrated commitment to the empowerment of the majority indigenous people through ownership of their heritage, the land.”
Affectionately known as “Bruno”, the late Cde Msika’s forthright talk and no-nonsense demeanour always inspired every Zimbabwean to be patriotic, and instilled fear in the hearts of those that opposed the revolutionary goals of his generation, said Dr Sibanda.
He added that following from the programmes that Cde Msika passionately drove, “a whole array of opportunities opened up for the ordinary citizen, and today’s adage ‘Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo’/’Ilizwe lakhiwa ngabanikazi balo’ resonates well with the late national hero’s work ethics”.
“As the nation approaches the commemoration of the 42nd Anniversary of Heroes Day and celebrates Defence Forces Day, it is only befitting that we remember the late Vice President in his rightful place among the gallant sons and daughters of the soil, both living and departed, and from the First Chimurenga/Umvukela to the Second Chimurenga.
“With the economic empowerment programme now receiving renewed impetus under the Second Republic, the social justice that Cde Msika and the entire rank and file of our liberators fought for is becoming a reality as we seek to attain the objectives of Vision 2030 on a prosperous, knowledge and technology-driven upper middle income society.
“May the soul of Cde Joseph Wilfred Msika, and the souls of other distinguished revolutionaries rest in eternal peace,” said Dr Sibanda.
Online Reporter