No fitting send-off for 'hero' Mhanda

The late former Zanla commander, Wilfred Mhanda dodged bullets in trenches alongside other liberation war fighters who are now national heroes or senior government officials.

But when he came back home at Independence in 1980, there was no hero's welcome for him and even in death, he was denied a spot among other luminaries at the National Heroes Acre.

The reason for his abandonment is apparently that he questioned the suitability of Robert Mugabe as leader of Zanu PF and the country. There was no love lost between the two and in his revealing book of all time Dzino, Memories of a Freedom Fighter Mhanda describes how he fell out of favour with Mugabe with stark clarity.

He accused Mugabe of clandestinely grabbing power through unorthodox means.

Among other war exploits accredited to him, Mhanda was one of the signatories of the 1976 Mgagao Declaration which rekindled the liberation struggle after it had been hushed by the Lusaka Declaration. He had all the qualities of a war hero but the very people he fought alongside shunned him unto death despite his contributions.

In his book, he wrote frankly about how they executed the liberation war during the time when most of the Zanu PF leaders, including Mugabe, were in detention after the assassination of Herbert Chitepo.

The group, determined to carry through their mandate, joined forces with Zipra commanders to form the Zimbabwe People's Party (Zipa). They managed to stage a massive military invasion into Rhodesia, a move that drove the iron-willed Ian Smith to the negotiating table.

However, threatened by Mhanda, the Mugabe-led camp after their release sought to discredit him and launched an onslaught on Zipa which they accused of having ulterior motives, according to the book.

For questioning Mugabe and refusing to subscribe to a leadership that was in contrast with the founding principles of Zanu PF, he was arrested in Mozambique on January 21 1977 and was only released in January 1980.

Their sour relations were carried over into the new Zimbabwe and Mhanda continued to point out the atrocities that had been carried out in the name of democracy.

He remained an "enemy of the state" until his passing on at Parirenyatwa hospital last Wednesday from cancer of the colon. He was quietly buried at Glen Forest, away from his comrades with whom he fought and won many battles which ultimately released the country from the clutches of the colonialists.

However, the snub has been roundly condemned and the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and other groups have described it as a "sad omission".

Senior ruling party officials were absent from the burial of the icon who contributed immensely to the liberation of Zimbabwe.