Chronicle Editor
Chronicle Reporter
LONG-serving Zimpapers Masvingo correspondent Walter Mswazie has died.
He was 45.
Mswazie died yesterday morning at Makurira Memorial Clinic in Masvingo from kidney failure after being hospitalised for more than two weeks.
His younger brother, Mr Yassah Gumbochuma confirmed Mswazie’s death.
“He was receiving medication and, in the process, developed kidney complications which led to his passing on this morning (yesterday). We had thought that he was going to make it after the assistance and best wishes we received from the Masvingo community and beyond but it was not to be,” said Mr Gumbochuma.
Mswazie’s death has cast a dark shadow within the Masvingo journalistic fraternity and beyond with many expressing shock and paying tribute to his immense contributions to journalism.
His death was all the more tragic as it came barely two months after he had wed his sweetheart, Mrs Shingi Mswazie.
George Maponga, The Herald Masvingo Bureau Chief, who worked closely with the late Mswazie, described him as a dedicated scribe who had a profound passion for developmental news.
“Mswazie was always the first to arrive at the office and the last to leave. This speaks volumes about his dedication to duty. Besides being a foot soldier who loved his profession, Mswazie exuded deep humility and was always exemplary to other workmates especially when it came to commitment to his work,” he said.
“He has left a very deep hole that will be difficult to fill, besides being a role model even to other budding journalists across Masvingo.
“Walter also feared God and was a devout member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. He will be dearly missed at Zimpapers Masvingo offices and beyond.”
Zimbabwe Union of Journalists vice president Godfrey Mutimba mourned Mswazie describing him as a rare breed of a journalist whose commitment to work was second to none.
“The media industry in Masvingo in particular and the province in general has been robbed of a great unifier. Walter was a man of peace. He loved peace and was a very humble man with roots firmly steeped in God. The Masvingo media landscape will never be the same again without Walter’s towering humility and exemplary leadership,” he said.
Prominent Masvingo lawyer, Mr Philip Shumba described his passing on as a great shock.
“So bad, my deepest condolences go to the Mswazie family and all media practitioners. A dark day indeed to us who were fortunate to work with him. I am deeply pained,” Mr Shumba.
Masvingo Provincial Affairs Minister Ezra Chadzamira expressed sadness over Mswazie’s death.
He said the media in Masvingo has been robbed of a hard worker adding that his death was more painful considering that he had recently wed his wife.
He is survived by his wife Shingi and three children.
Mourners are gathered at 18 Marula Street, Rhodene suburb and burial arrangements will be announced in due course.
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