Georgias declared National Hero

20 Dec, 2015 - 04:12 0 Views

The Sunday News

INDUSTRIALIST, economic empowerment advocate, anti-sanctions crusader and former Deputy Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, Senator Aguy Clement Georgias, has been granted National Hero status by Zanu-PF’s Politburo.
He will be interred at the National Heroes Acre on 22 December — Unity Day. Cde Georgias died aged 80 on Friday at AMI Hospital in Avondale, Harare after succumbing to heart and kidney failure. Zanu-PF National Secretary for Administration Cde Ignatius Chombo last night said the decision to confer the lofty honour on Cde Georgias was in recognition of his contribution to the economic emancipation of all Zimbabweans.

“In the morning I spoke to (Zanu-PF Harare Provincial Chairperson) Cde (Charles) Tavengwa who informed me that they had, as a province, decided that we accord Cde Georgias National Hero status,” said Cde Chombo.

“I asked him to put the request formally, in writing, and I have been communicating with the leadership and other Politburo members. As you are aware, it is a weekend and it was difficult for us to convene as a party, but that does not mean we were not consulting each other. So from the consultations, the President, Cde Mugabe, saw it fit that we confer National Hero status to Cde Aguy Georgias. The honour is in recognition of his unwavering support and contribution to the country before and after Independence.

“He fought against imperialism, wanted to economically empower the locals and was generally a fighter for freedom. We have indeed lost a dedicated cadre. His family has been briefed on the party position and they have agreed to the status that has been bestowed upon him. Burial has been scheduled for Unity Day on Tuesday.”

Earlier, Cde Charles Tavengwa had told our Harare Bureau that Cde Georgias had been unwaveringly principled in advancing Zanu-PF’s economic independence agenda.

“Cde Georgias has been a staunch Zanu-PF member who has been consistent before and after Independence. He held several positions in Government and the party. He was most known for fighting for the rights of indigenous people.

His stance on the issue of sanctions, when he made the application to the European Union’s General Court, was heroic because he put the nation first ahead of himself.”

Cde Georgias paid a steep personal price when he chose to use his own money to fight illegal European Union economic sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe after Harare embarked on the revolutionary Fast-Track Land Reform Programme. The National Hero spent no less than US$1,3 million as he sought to get the EU to lift its widely-discredited embargo. Using his own money, Cde Georgias took the EU head-on at its General Court in Luxembourg for damages in loss of business by his company, Trinity Engineering, that had been placed on Western sanctions.

Though Cde Georgias was never going to win that case in Europe, in Zimbabwe he emerged as a true champion of the economic empowerment and self-determination agenda.

Back in 2006, he successfully sought enforcement of the in duplum rule that prohibits charging of interest on loans in excess of initial capital. He also fought against deportation of Zimbabweans linked to senior Government and Zanu-PF officials who were studying and living in the United Kingdom. Cde Georgias was included on the European Union travel ban list in 2007 after President Mugabe appointed him Deputy Minister of Economic Development.

A month after assuming office, he was denied entry into the United Kingdom as he sough to transit to the United States.

Cde Georgias was detained for a night before flying back to Zimbabwe. The National Hero was born on 22 June, 1935 in Chivhu, Mashonaland East, and went on to establish himself as a leading industrialist in Southern African through his Trinity Engineering. Cde Georgias is survived by his wife Lizzy Georgias, 11 children and 16 grandchildren.

Mourners are gathered at Rocky Lodge, Browning Drive, Strathaven in Harare.

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