Opinion / Columnist
Norman Mabhena: The honour and price of principle in Zimbabwe
09 Jul 2016 at 06:31hrs | Views
After more than three decades since we attained independence from colonial rule in 1980, there is a steady depletion of the ranks of those who stood up to be counted without counting the cost to themselves and their families. One such stalwart of the liberation struggle is the relatively unsung patriot Norman Mabhena who passed away on Tuesday 5th July 2016 at Mpilo Hospital in Bulawayo. He was well-known among former political detainees and restricted and a member of their organization, the Zimbabwe Ex-Political Prisoners, Detainees and Restrictees' Association (ZEPPDRA).
The life-history of Norman Mabhena, like many of his peers, was shaped by the reality of colonial deprivation, harassment and political repression that challenged young people to a stark choice between docility and revolt. He had no hesitation in choosing the path of mobilization for self-determination. The consequence of this choice is that Mabhena's life became intertwined with political developments practically all his life. He even missed the arrival of his first child because he had been detained by the Rhodesian regime in one of these relentless bouts of arrests, .......
Indefatigable youth leader
Norman Mabhena started political activism when the national Democratic Party (NDP) was formed in 1960 as a successor to Zimbabwe's part of the congress movement, the African National Congress (ANC) that had been banned in 1959 . He quickly assumed responsibility in the youth movement as Treasurer of the NDP in Bulawayo's Njube Township and also participated in the promotion of the voice of Zimbabwean youth internationally. Over the years he was involved in campaigning for support, conferences and exchange of experience. In this role he visited Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi.
The NDP was short-lived, banned by the racist regime of Southern Rhodesia in early December 1961. It was quickly succeeded by the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) formed on 17th December 1961 and which was in turn banned after barely nine months on 19th September 1962. The banning of ZAPU heralded a stint of personal persecution of Norman Mabhena alongside many comrades and friends. They adhered to the decision of the organization to defy the banning order by going underground and committing to operating "illegally". Actually in his case when ZAPU was banned he was attending a youth conference in Geneva; and on his return he was restricted to a 12-mile radius of his home. This did not deter him. On the contrary, when ZANU split from ZAPU in 1963 Norman Mabhena was among the founder members of the People's Caretaker Council (PCC) in 1964 that carried the ideals of ZAPU without becoming another "party". He served the PCC/ZAPU as its Youth Chairman. This marked the beginning of a tumultuous life of arrests, detention, and confinement to restriction areas. Mabhena was picked up, severely tortured and among the first people restricted during the large-scale detention without trial in 1964. He was first sent to Gonakudzingwa and after a month was moved to Gwelo Detention with 14 others. This detention was successfully contested by the distinguished ZAPU lawyer Leo Baron, whereupon Mabhena was flown back to Gonakudzingwa . Before the Rhodesian regime's 1965 Unilateral Declaration of Independence from Britain (UDI) by Ian Smith, Mabhena was removed from Gonakudzingwa once more and taken back to Gwelo Prison where he spent several years until 1972 when he was transferred to detention in Whawha. He stayed in Whawha for 8 months and was sent back to Gonakudzingwa where he languished till May 1974. This was not the end because he was then transferred to Salisbury Prison (Harare) and not released till 24th December 1974!
The round of arrests and restriction abated but was not ended during attempts to concoct an "internal settlement" whose purpose was to undercut the armed struggle that was turning the tide against the racist regime. After a trip to Britain, Mabhena's passport was confiscated. He was subsequently arrested in 1977 for allegedly holding illegal meetings in Filabusi (Insiza District), with similar charges later relating to Gwanda District. In both instances he was acquitted but the regime saw it fit to detain him in Connemara Prison for six months and later in Qweqwe (Kwekwe) Prison for one year. This cycle of political incarceration going by different names was completed by a stay in Whawha prison (yet again) which ended on 12th December 1979, i.e. just before independence negotiations and formalities were completed.
National political rise stopped by principle
Norman Mabhena is one of a small band of politicians who rose from the ranks of the youth movement to become a national leader in his own right. He was in the leadership of PF-ZAPU (in the Central Committee) before the party was swallowed into ZANU-PF in the infamous "Unity Accord" of 1987 that was foisted on Dr. Joshua Nkomo as the price for peace after the "Gukurahundi" massacres of the early 1980s that led to killing of over 20,000 unarmed Ndebele-speaking civilians in Matebeleland and the Midlands provinces. He was for a while in the ZANU-PF Central Committee in 1999, but he continued to question the lop-sided nature of the "unity Accord" that short-changed ZAPU by the retention of the symbols and designation of the allegedly united party by ZANU-PF. This is what led to his resignation after he was berated for his guts. It was only natural that he was persuaded to join the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formed in 1999 by trade unionists and others opposed to the one-party state that was being built up. After the split of the MDC in 2005 he remained in what became the MDC-T of Morgan Tsvangirai and was a Central Committee member.
When his death was announced, top leadership from several parties (ZAPU, PDP, MDC, and MDC-T,) came to Mabhena's home to console his widow and the Mabhena family. For his part, In the last months of his life he devoted a lot of time to reaching out to old friends who shared his pre-independence experience and vision in ZAPU. He was the convener of an informal group that sought to overcome dispersion of old comrades by "political labels" of the various political parties. He was not preoccupied with personal influence that did not lead to lasting change for the country and those disadvantaged by tribalism, corruption and repression characteristic of the things he fought against from his youth. Such an outlook is not conducive to political advancement that thrives on personalized loyalty and avoiding the truth; and Mabhena paid the price at several points in his life but never regretted being principled. He should have automatically received a "national hero" status but this was not asked for or even desired by him in spite of widespread recognition that he was a most deserving "case". The proud Mabhena clan to which he belongs did not waste their breath in that direction. In fact Norman Mabhena is the one who was tasked by the late Welshman Mabhena to make sure that the latter was not tainted by this "honour". Norman follows in the footsteps of the older clansman in being laid to rest at Lady Stanley cemetery in Bulawayo in the illustrious company of the likes of Lookout Masuku.
The church service is at the Brethren in Christ Church on Saturday 9th July 2016 at 08.30am before the procession to his final resting place.
Early life
Born in Fort Rixon (koNgungumbane) on 11th February 1940, Norman Mabhena grew up in Belingwe Tribal Trust Land where the family went after the forced removals from their land in 1948. It is here where he first went to school. He completed primary school education in Bulawayo in Helemu Government Primary School and proceeded for secondary school education in Dadaya Mission. After Dadaya he trained as an artisan and worked from 1961 at Supersonic radio factory. Norman Mabhena's late child, born to Margaret Sebina, was delivered after he was committed to detention in the 1960s. He delegated the naming of his child to his friend Public Nkomo who said the young man should be called Dingilizwe (seek the country). Norman Mabhena is survived by his wife Mrs Queen Mabhena (nee Sibanda).
May His Soul Rest in Peace
The life-history of Norman Mabhena, like many of his peers, was shaped by the reality of colonial deprivation, harassment and political repression that challenged young people to a stark choice between docility and revolt. He had no hesitation in choosing the path of mobilization for self-determination. The consequence of this choice is that Mabhena's life became intertwined with political developments practically all his life. He even missed the arrival of his first child because he had been detained by the Rhodesian regime in one of these relentless bouts of arrests, .......
Indefatigable youth leader
Norman Mabhena started political activism when the national Democratic Party (NDP) was formed in 1960 as a successor to Zimbabwe's part of the congress movement, the African National Congress (ANC) that had been banned in 1959 . He quickly assumed responsibility in the youth movement as Treasurer of the NDP in Bulawayo's Njube Township and also participated in the promotion of the voice of Zimbabwean youth internationally. Over the years he was involved in campaigning for support, conferences and exchange of experience. In this role he visited Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi.
The NDP was short-lived, banned by the racist regime of Southern Rhodesia in early December 1961. It was quickly succeeded by the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) formed on 17th December 1961 and which was in turn banned after barely nine months on 19th September 1962. The banning of ZAPU heralded a stint of personal persecution of Norman Mabhena alongside many comrades and friends. They adhered to the decision of the organization to defy the banning order by going underground and committing to operating "illegally". Actually in his case when ZAPU was banned he was attending a youth conference in Geneva; and on his return he was restricted to a 12-mile radius of his home. This did not deter him. On the contrary, when ZANU split from ZAPU in 1963 Norman Mabhena was among the founder members of the People's Caretaker Council (PCC) in 1964 that carried the ideals of ZAPU without becoming another "party". He served the PCC/ZAPU as its Youth Chairman. This marked the beginning of a tumultuous life of arrests, detention, and confinement to restriction areas. Mabhena was picked up, severely tortured and among the first people restricted during the large-scale detention without trial in 1964. He was first sent to Gonakudzingwa and after a month was moved to Gwelo Detention with 14 others. This detention was successfully contested by the distinguished ZAPU lawyer Leo Baron, whereupon Mabhena was flown back to Gonakudzingwa . Before the Rhodesian regime's 1965 Unilateral Declaration of Independence from Britain (UDI) by Ian Smith, Mabhena was removed from Gonakudzingwa once more and taken back to Gwelo Prison where he spent several years until 1972 when he was transferred to detention in Whawha. He stayed in Whawha for 8 months and was sent back to Gonakudzingwa where he languished till May 1974. This was not the end because he was then transferred to Salisbury Prison (Harare) and not released till 24th December 1974!
The round of arrests and restriction abated but was not ended during attempts to concoct an "internal settlement" whose purpose was to undercut the armed struggle that was turning the tide against the racist regime. After a trip to Britain, Mabhena's passport was confiscated. He was subsequently arrested in 1977 for allegedly holding illegal meetings in Filabusi (Insiza District), with similar charges later relating to Gwanda District. In both instances he was acquitted but the regime saw it fit to detain him in Connemara Prison for six months and later in Qweqwe (Kwekwe) Prison for one year. This cycle of political incarceration going by different names was completed by a stay in Whawha prison (yet again) which ended on 12th December 1979, i.e. just before independence negotiations and formalities were completed.
National political rise stopped by principle
Norman Mabhena is one of a small band of politicians who rose from the ranks of the youth movement to become a national leader in his own right. He was in the leadership of PF-ZAPU (in the Central Committee) before the party was swallowed into ZANU-PF in the infamous "Unity Accord" of 1987 that was foisted on Dr. Joshua Nkomo as the price for peace after the "Gukurahundi" massacres of the early 1980s that led to killing of over 20,000 unarmed Ndebele-speaking civilians in Matebeleland and the Midlands provinces. He was for a while in the ZANU-PF Central Committee in 1999, but he continued to question the lop-sided nature of the "unity Accord" that short-changed ZAPU by the retention of the symbols and designation of the allegedly united party by ZANU-PF. This is what led to his resignation after he was berated for his guts. It was only natural that he was persuaded to join the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formed in 1999 by trade unionists and others opposed to the one-party state that was being built up. After the split of the MDC in 2005 he remained in what became the MDC-T of Morgan Tsvangirai and was a Central Committee member.
When his death was announced, top leadership from several parties (ZAPU, PDP, MDC, and MDC-T,) came to Mabhena's home to console his widow and the Mabhena family. For his part, In the last months of his life he devoted a lot of time to reaching out to old friends who shared his pre-independence experience and vision in ZAPU. He was the convener of an informal group that sought to overcome dispersion of old comrades by "political labels" of the various political parties. He was not preoccupied with personal influence that did not lead to lasting change for the country and those disadvantaged by tribalism, corruption and repression characteristic of the things he fought against from his youth. Such an outlook is not conducive to political advancement that thrives on personalized loyalty and avoiding the truth; and Mabhena paid the price at several points in his life but never regretted being principled. He should have automatically received a "national hero" status but this was not asked for or even desired by him in spite of widespread recognition that he was a most deserving "case". The proud Mabhena clan to which he belongs did not waste their breath in that direction. In fact Norman Mabhena is the one who was tasked by the late Welshman Mabhena to make sure that the latter was not tainted by this "honour". Norman follows in the footsteps of the older clansman in being laid to rest at Lady Stanley cemetery in Bulawayo in the illustrious company of the likes of Lookout Masuku.
The church service is at the Brethren in Christ Church on Saturday 9th July 2016 at 08.30am before the procession to his final resting place.
Early life
Born in Fort Rixon (koNgungumbane) on 11th February 1940, Norman Mabhena grew up in Belingwe Tribal Trust Land where the family went after the forced removals from their land in 1948. It is here where he first went to school. He completed primary school education in Bulawayo in Helemu Government Primary School and proceeded for secondary school education in Dadaya Mission. After Dadaya he trained as an artisan and worked from 1961 at Supersonic radio factory. Norman Mabhena's late child, born to Margaret Sebina, was delivered after he was committed to detention in the 1960s. He delegated the naming of his child to his friend Public Nkomo who said the young man should be called Dingilizwe (seek the country). Norman Mabhena is survived by his wife Mrs Queen Mabhena (nee Sibanda).
May His Soul Rest in Peace
Source - Dr. Strike Mkandla
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