Opinion / Columnist
Dr Muzenda's dying wish
28 Sep 2015 at 15:05hrs | Views
Dr Simon Vengesai Muzenda was my nephew, his mother and I were related, both being of the Hungwe totem.
HOWEVER, I only got to know Dr Muzenda better when he returned from the liberation war in 1979.
I was to work with him for nearly 14 years during which I learnt that he was not complicated.
He led a simple life, admired by many.
A lot of people would visit him just like they do pilgrims. They wanted to meet the passionate man and understand the force that drove him.
He was a man of the people and loved them too, but not in the sense of Chinua Achebe (laughs).
He had genuine love, especially for the disadvantaged and children.
He always had people around him, many of them with backgrounds different from his.
Robert Marere was one person I witnessed pouring his heart out to Dr Muzenda. Marere was ZANU-PF chair for Harare's Highfield suburb where he resided.
His house had been repossessed by council over arrears and he was in tears as he related this story to the VP.
Dr Muzenda was touched and promptly negotiated with council on his behalf, leading to a favourable settlement.
He also once helped a blind man called Mhlanga.
A car had been donated to Mhlanga from across the Beitbridge border, but he could not raise import duty.
Guess what?
VP Muzenda chipped in.
This was the person he was.
Ask Aguy Georgias to confirm the kind of person Dr Muzenda was. Ask him how he feels about his absence. The nation is poorer without Simon Vengesai Muzenda.
He preferred to endure the bad on someone else's behalf.
That is why he went around preaching against cattle rustling.
He listened to the most trivial of issues presented to him. Even those with difficulties in paying tuition fees for their children sought his assistance and got it.
One's problem was his, he had particular approaches to any problem.
A servant of the people, he served his masters with love. The people were his masters.
I can't figure out how his integrity can be measured.
What I can say is one can be a professor, doctor or any other highly-placed person in society, but Muzenda would outshine them all as he was a person.
It will always be difficult to get to where he was.
VaMuzenda moved from the Mid-lands - where he started his political journey - to Masvingo, his rural home.
He had doubts about this move, but I had reassured him.
He went to Masvingo "to make landmarks" kuti kusare kune zvinhu zvinonzi ndezva VaMuzenda. And he went on to achieve a lot of things.
He succeeded in building a university, roads, clinics, schools and hospitals.
His message was simple: Never fail.
He said approaching any situation in the right mode was the answer.
He was comfortable spending the day in Harare, but never forgot his roots.
Sometimes, he would ring me and say: "Sekuru muripi? Ini ndava kuenda kwaZvavahera. Ngatisanganei ikoko."
We would meet at Zvavahera or in Gutu, and I knew this meant me spending the night there.
We were together most of the time.
The most important thing he wanted me to learn was the importance of a name.
He was high up there, but chose an ordinary life. He preferred traditional dishes that included majuru or masonja.
And he supported land reforms whole-heartedly.
He was the brains behind the winter maize project of 199I6 that helped a lot of people in Masvingo, Manicaland, Matabeleland South and part of the Midlands.
I'm still carrying on with the project. This time, around 329 hectares of land have been serviced.
This is one of the many initiatives I learnt from my nephew.
He was a socialist par excellence who imparted this attribute to me and other people who were given to his philosophy.
I'm sure if he were around, he would be one with the President, trying to find solutions to present-day challenges.
He and President Mugabe complemented each other.
While advancing my political studies in Malawi, I learnt of the two critical positions in Government - the posts of Vice-President and Foreign Minister.
The VP post requires one of a sober mind.
Haufanire kuva nemweya wekuda kumukira mutungamiri.
If you do, then there is a problem.
He loved his leader. Boss Mugabe. When I briefed him about anything he would respond, "Let me go and tell the President."
To report to the President, not to advice him - that's the difference.
He loved him.
I did not say respect; loved him.
The rest falls under the word love, and he always emphasised the point that you don't fight your elders.
Muzenda remained rooted in his principles and loyal to the President. Once, some said they wanted the President out: "Ngaachirega tipindewo."
However, Dr Muzenda never entertained such thoughts in his mind.
He stood by Mugabe, who is God-given. He was right because if you don't respect the elders you see, how do you then expect to worship the Lord you don't? Dr Muzenda was a true African. He was of the Rozvi tribe. At one point, I met one of his relatives from this tribe - Jairos Jiri.
There was a group of us in a hall in Mashava and VaMuzenda announced that someone wanted to address us.
I wondered what the address would be about.
Jiri then told us to bring any disabled people we knew or from our families.
The plan was worked out by both Muzenda and Jiri.
Mutendi also came into the matrix with a gospel touch, highlighting that only God is the Saviour, a philosophy that blended with Dr Muzenda's perspective and life.
He loved his country to the extent that he took his biological children to war.
I told the President at a conference in Masvingo: "Masvingo has lost a gallant son, but my opinion is that it is you, Mr President, that will greatly feel the loss. It will be difficult to find a man of Muzenda's calibre."
He was given the moniker "Mzee" by the President. It's not his. If you live in a society and don't get a nickname, it means you have not succeeded in whatever you are doing.
A name is given to you because you are an achiever.
The President was present on the last day that I chatted with Muzenda.
He told us, "I'm going to China, but (I don't know) if I will make it back."
After that, we went to his place of residence in Harare and that is where he told me that he wanted to be buried where his mother had been interred.
He quickly pointed out, though, that if the President suggested another place, he was not to be opposed.
-------
Honourable Josiah Hungwe is the Minister of State for Liaising on Psychomotor Activities In Education.
Interview and transcription by Prince Mushawevato on September 25, 2015.
HOWEVER, I only got to know Dr Muzenda better when he returned from the liberation war in 1979.
I was to work with him for nearly 14 years during which I learnt that he was not complicated.
He led a simple life, admired by many.
A lot of people would visit him just like they do pilgrims. They wanted to meet the passionate man and understand the force that drove him.
He was a man of the people and loved them too, but not in the sense of Chinua Achebe (laughs).
He had genuine love, especially for the disadvantaged and children.
He always had people around him, many of them with backgrounds different from his.
Robert Marere was one person I witnessed pouring his heart out to Dr Muzenda. Marere was ZANU-PF chair for Harare's Highfield suburb where he resided.
His house had been repossessed by council over arrears and he was in tears as he related this story to the VP.
Dr Muzenda was touched and promptly negotiated with council on his behalf, leading to a favourable settlement.
He also once helped a blind man called Mhlanga.
A car had been donated to Mhlanga from across the Beitbridge border, but he could not raise import duty.
Guess what?
VP Muzenda chipped in.
This was the person he was.
Ask Aguy Georgias to confirm the kind of person Dr Muzenda was. Ask him how he feels about his absence. The nation is poorer without Simon Vengesai Muzenda.
He preferred to endure the bad on someone else's behalf.
That is why he went around preaching against cattle rustling.
He listened to the most trivial of issues presented to him. Even those with difficulties in paying tuition fees for their children sought his assistance and got it.
One's problem was his, he had particular approaches to any problem.
A servant of the people, he served his masters with love. The people were his masters.
I can't figure out how his integrity can be measured.
What I can say is one can be a professor, doctor or any other highly-placed person in society, but Muzenda would outshine them all as he was a person.
It will always be difficult to get to where he was.
VaMuzenda moved from the Mid-lands - where he started his political journey - to Masvingo, his rural home.
He had doubts about this move, but I had reassured him.
He went to Masvingo "to make landmarks" kuti kusare kune zvinhu zvinonzi ndezva VaMuzenda. And he went on to achieve a lot of things.
He succeeded in building a university, roads, clinics, schools and hospitals.
His message was simple: Never fail.
He said approaching any situation in the right mode was the answer.
He was comfortable spending the day in Harare, but never forgot his roots.
Sometimes, he would ring me and say: "Sekuru muripi? Ini ndava kuenda kwaZvavahera. Ngatisanganei ikoko."
We would meet at Zvavahera or in Gutu, and I knew this meant me spending the night there.
We were together most of the time.
The most important thing he wanted me to learn was the importance of a name.
He was high up there, but chose an ordinary life. He preferred traditional dishes that included majuru or masonja.
And he supported land reforms whole-heartedly.
He was the brains behind the winter maize project of 199I6 that helped a lot of people in Masvingo, Manicaland, Matabeleland South and part of the Midlands.
I'm still carrying on with the project. This time, around 329 hectares of land have been serviced.
This is one of the many initiatives I learnt from my nephew.
He was a socialist par excellence who imparted this attribute to me and other people who were given to his philosophy.
I'm sure if he were around, he would be one with the President, trying to find solutions to present-day challenges.
He and President Mugabe complemented each other.
While advancing my political studies in Malawi, I learnt of the two critical positions in Government - the posts of Vice-President and Foreign Minister.
The VP post requires one of a sober mind.
Haufanire kuva nemweya wekuda kumukira mutungamiri.
If you do, then there is a problem.
He loved his leader. Boss Mugabe. When I briefed him about anything he would respond, "Let me go and tell the President."
To report to the President, not to advice him - that's the difference.
He loved him.
I did not say respect; loved him.
The rest falls under the word love, and he always emphasised the point that you don't fight your elders.
Muzenda remained rooted in his principles and loyal to the President. Once, some said they wanted the President out: "Ngaachirega tipindewo."
However, Dr Muzenda never entertained such thoughts in his mind.
He stood by Mugabe, who is God-given. He was right because if you don't respect the elders you see, how do you then expect to worship the Lord you don't? Dr Muzenda was a true African. He was of the Rozvi tribe. At one point, I met one of his relatives from this tribe - Jairos Jiri.
There was a group of us in a hall in Mashava and VaMuzenda announced that someone wanted to address us.
I wondered what the address would be about.
Jiri then told us to bring any disabled people we knew or from our families.
The plan was worked out by both Muzenda and Jiri.
Mutendi also came into the matrix with a gospel touch, highlighting that only God is the Saviour, a philosophy that blended with Dr Muzenda's perspective and life.
He loved his country to the extent that he took his biological children to war.
I told the President at a conference in Masvingo: "Masvingo has lost a gallant son, but my opinion is that it is you, Mr President, that will greatly feel the loss. It will be difficult to find a man of Muzenda's calibre."
He was given the moniker "Mzee" by the President. It's not his. If you live in a society and don't get a nickname, it means you have not succeeded in whatever you are doing.
A name is given to you because you are an achiever.
The President was present on the last day that I chatted with Muzenda.
He told us, "I'm going to China, but (I don't know) if I will make it back."
After that, we went to his place of residence in Harare and that is where he told me that he wanted to be buried where his mother had been interred.
He quickly pointed out, though, that if the President suggested another place, he was not to be opposed.
-------
Honourable Josiah Hungwe is the Minister of State for Liaising on Psychomotor Activities In Education.
Interview and transcription by Prince Mushawevato on September 25, 2015.
Source - Sunday Mail
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