Colonel (Rtd) Patron Khutshwekhaya dies at 75

The Commander of the Zimbabwe National Army, Asher Walter Tapfumaneyi, has announced the death of liberation war veteran and retired senior officer Colonel (Rtd) Patron Khutshwekhaya, who died at the age of 75.

Colonel Khutshwekhaya, whose Chimurenga name was Dalasi Ndlela, passed away on May 1 at United Bulawayo Hospitals.

Born in 1951 in Mahlathini Village, Tsholotsho District, he joined the liberation struggle in 1976 as a ZIPRA cadre in Zambia. He trained at several liberation camps including Nampundwe, New Camp and Mwembeshi before undergoing formal military training at Mgagao in Tanzania.

He later operated along the Zambezi Escarpment during the liberation war, with deployments in areas such as Kariba, Chirundu and Kanyemba.

Following independence in 1980, Khutshwekhaya was integrated into the Zimbabwe National Army as a private soldier and rose through the ranks over the course of his military career, eventually retiring as a Colonel in 2001.

He is survived by his wife, Egnetha Khutshwekhaya.

Mourners are gathered at his family home in Phelandaba suburb, Bulawayo, where burial arrangements are expected to be announced.

Colonel Khutshwekhaya is remembered as part of the generation of liberation fighters who transitioned into the national army and played a key role in shaping Zimbabwe's post-independence military history.