Zanu PF mourns Edward Raradza

Zanu PF has mourned Central Committee member Edward Raradza, describing the veteran politician and businessman as a committed supporter of Zimbabwe's post-independence economic transformation.

Raradza died in Harare on Friday at the age of 79.

Zanu PF Secretary for Information and Publicity Ambassador Christopher Mutsvangwa said Raradza would be remembered as a pioneering and ardent supporter of the country's Look East Policy at a time when Zimbabwe was facing Western sanctions, including the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZIDERA).

Mutsvangwa credited Raradza with helping spearhead arrangements for some of the first non-official funding from China, alongside policy loans secured through Government channels.

"The entry of competing capital from rapidly rising China helped break the back of the 2002 economic strangulation contrived through the Maputo Ultimatum against Zimbabwe's historic Land Reform Programme of 2000," he said.

Mutsvangwa said Raradza's efforts contributed to sustaining the Land Reform Programme and restoring agricultural production among newly empowered black farmers.

"He created conditions for sustained national economic recovery and future prosperity, as promised by the National Liberation Movement and its Chimurenga II Armed Struggle," Mutsvangwa said.

Raradza was a former Member of Parliament for Muzarabani South and served in the Zanu PF Central Committee for more than two terms.

Zanu PF Mashonaland Central provincial chairman Kazembe Kazembe said the province would recommend that Raradza be accorded national hero status.

"He worked tirelessly for the party and served in the Central Committee for more than two terms. He financed party programmes at provincial and national level. He was a mentor and a father figure in Mashonaland Central," Kazembe said.

Raradza was also a prominent figure in Zimbabwe's mining sector, becoming the first black Zimbabwean to own a coal mining company after Zambezi Gas and Coal Mine was granted a Special Grant in 2002. He subsequently served as a director of the company.

Matabeleland North Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Richard Moyo also paid tribute to Raradza, highlighting his contribution to the province's development through his involvement in mining.

"The people of Matabeleland North Province will forever be indebted to the development that Honourable Raradza brought to our province," Moyo said.

"He was not only a mining entrepreneur but also a mining and development champion in Matabeleland North Province."

Raradza also played a role in Zimbabwe's agricultural sector, at one point serving as vice president of the Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU).

In 2011, he co-founded Millennium Tobacco Floors, a licensed tobacco auction company operating in Msasa, Harare.

During his years with the ZFU and the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Raradza was a vocal advocate for tobacco farmers, regularly lobbying Government and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe over input costs, access to fertiliser and pricing structures at auction floors.

He is survived by his family, including his son, Mashonaland Central provincial youth chairman Emmerson Raradza.

Mourners are gathered at Mawari Farm in Centenary, Mashonaland Central.