Ambassador Midzi got the status befitting of him

Recently, the private media has been awash with articles alleging that some people are complaining that the ZANU PF government erred in not awarding its former Harare provincial Chairman, the late Ambassador Amos Midzi, hero status. Surprisingly, Didymus Mutasa, the former ZANU PF Secretary for Administration, among those people, has now teamed up with the opposition elements in denouncing the position taken by ZANU PF not to accord hero status on Ambassador Midzi.

Mutasa is quick to forget that anyone who is accorded hero status should be someone who remains consistent in serving the people and protecting the values and principles of the armed struggle which many thousands of young men and women sacrificed their lives for people like Mutasa to have freedom of expression today. It is not a secret that for one to be accorded hero status he/she should not be someone who would have betrayed the struggle and what the revolutionary party, ZANU PF, stands for.

Actually, Mutasa is quite aware of what caused the suspension of Amos Midzi from the revolutionary party, leading to his fall from grace to disgrace. Midzi (May his soul rest in peace) failed to adhere to what the revolutionary party was expecting, hence, he could not be counted among heroes.

Why is it that Mutasa is quick to forget that even during the time when he was the ZANU PF Secretary for Administration, he was party to politburo meetings which did not accord hero status to people like Canaan Banana, Ndabaningi Sithole, Dzinashe Machingura aka Wilfred Mhanda and others who failed as well to be heroes. Mutasa should first tell the nation why such people who were also the gurus in the armed struggle were not buried at the heroes' acre. Instead, Mutasa should be the one to explain to the nation what Midzi did which denied him hero status.

Everyone knows quite well that Ndabaningi Sithole was the first president of ZANU and that Canaan Banana was the first President of the independent Zimbabwe but because of what the two did, not consistent with the revolutionary party and the nation's values, they were not accorded hero status despite their contributions to the armed struggle. Dzinashe Machingura, despite his contribution to the armed struggle, was not declared a hero when he died because he failed to remain consistent to the party and government values.

So Midzi's case should not be blown out of proportion by people like Mutasa as hero status does not come cheap. When Midzi passed on, he had been suspended from ZANU PF because of his alleged plans, together with his associates, to remove from power President Robert Gabriel Mugabe and install the former Vice President, Dr Joyce Mujuru as president. So, with such allegations hanging over his head, was it proper for ZANU PF to accord him hero status? Can that be possible for someone harbouring plans to overthrow the President of the party and country to be accorded hero status? What is clear is that what Ambassador Midzi did was a grave mistake as he took the route which led him to be dumped by the party that made him a public figure locally and internationally.

Despite whatever contributions that Ambassador Midzi could have done during his lifetime to the party and government, all have been overshadowed by the plans which he allegedly undertook with his Mujuru cabal. So that alone should stand as a lesson to those still questioning why the ZANU PF government did not accord hero status to Midzi. In actual fact people should appreciate and applaud what the government did when it accorded him a state assisted funeral as a way of recognizing his contribution to the party and government

On the other hand, Ambassador Midzi, despite being in government soon after independence, he was not part and parcel of those who waged the war of liberation. As such Mutasa and company should stand guided by all those principles which make one gets hero status when he/she dies.

Biblically, Ambassador Midzi could not be accorded hero status because of the way he died. It is clearly stated in Deuteronomy 21:23 that "Cursed is a man who hangs himself on a tree".  Ambassador Midzi killed himself; hence, it was not proper to accord him hero status when he had chosen to terminate his life. Traditionally if someone kills himself/herself, he/she is not accorded respect by the society. Awarding someone hero status who would have killed himself/herself gives other people, like Mutasa, who might think that if they kill themselves, they would be accorded hero status, hence, they might resort to suicide.
 ZANU PF should be applauded for not according Ambassador Midzi hero status as this serves as a lesson to people like Mutasa and his cabal to be aware of that. They, too, cease to be people who would be accorded hero status when their time of departure from earth comes.