General Chiwengwa grace Mbuya Makamure's burial

Mbuya Vongai Makamure who was declared a provincial liberation heroine got a deserved honour when the Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, General Constantine Chiwenga and his wife Mary Chiwenga graced her memorial service held at her house in Rhodhene on Saturday.

Four other top commanders, Major Gen Trust Mugova, 4 Brigade Commander Brigadier Gen Exsebious Tshuma, Mechanised Brigade Brigadier Gen Paul Chima, Lt Colonel Jeffrey Jenje, Retired Colonel Kanganiso Mudadi were also present at the memorial.

Speaking at the memorial, Gen Chiwenga said he would meet Mbuya Makamure at Morgenster each time he came to oversee liberation war operations in the 1970s in Masvingo Province. The Province was divided into Gaza and Manica Provinces.

He said Mbuya Makamure landed the freedom fighters all the support they required.

He said the late Mbuya Makamure remained solid and was a provincial party structure member up to the time of her death.

He likened Mbuya Makamure to Naboth of 1 Kings 21 in the Bible who refused to sell his inheritance after being lured by money and vineyards.

"Masvingo during the war was divided into two provinces called Gaza and Manica and when I came to oversee operations I would meet with Ambuya from time to time as she was behind all the support needed by the freedom fighters from her base at Morgenster Mission. There were very few people who could go out of their way to lend support to the war as most of the people were afraid of the Smith regime.

"After the war I also came back as a liaison officer and she was there to give her support wherever necessary. She was part of the provincial executive throughout her life.

Mbuya Makamure did not sell her heritage to the enemy despite going through difficult times during the war.

"She was like Naboth of 1 Kings 21 in the Bible who refused to sell his inheritance to Ahab the king of Samaria saying, 'the Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my ancestors' he told the King who had enticed him with money and an offer for another vineyard farm elsewhere," said Gen Chiwenga.

Mbuya Makamure (81) died on May 22, 2016 after suffering from cancer for over three years.

Hundreds of people gathered at her Rhodene homestead for the memorial.

Gen Chiwenga encouraged Zimbabweans to accept the Bond notes which will be controlled by the Zimbabweans themselves.

"Let's accept the bond notes because it is our currency, granted things are difficult but we cannot throw away our heritage because of difficulties which will come to pass, let's be resilient so that the enemy does not penetrate and take away what we fought for," said Gen Chiwenga.

Divine Simbi Ndhlukula a cousin to the late Mbuya Makamure also spoke glowingly about her works and the way she contributed to her upbringing when she was a student at Makumbe Mission in Buhera during the war.

The memorial service was led by the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe (RCZ) Rhodene congregation with prominent businessman Setfree Mapuvire as the master of ceremony.

Cabson Magaya, Owen Mashiri and Masvingo Show Society president Trust Chaputsira attended the memorial service as well as other businessman from Masvingo.

Masvingo Mirror