Grand send off for Chief Ndondo

06 Jul, 2014 - 00:07 0 Views
Grand send off for Chief Ndondo Village heads Mr Kholekile Mniki and Mr Timothy Majozi (right) lead other village heads carry the body of the late Chief Neville Mkhatshana Ndondo to its final resting place at Ngxingweni Village in Mbembesi yesterday. — Pic by Dennis Mudzamiri

The Sunday News

Village heads Mr Kholekile Mniki and Mr Timothy Majozi (right) lead other village heads carry the body of the late Chief Neville Mkhatshana Ndondo to its final resting place at Ngxingweni Village in Mbembesi yesterday. — Pic by Dennis Mudzamiri

Village heads Mr Kholekile Mniki and Mr Timothy Majozi (right) lead other village heads carry the body of the late Chief Neville Mkhatshana Ndondo to its final resting place at Ngxingweni Village in Mbembesi yesterday. — Pic by Dennis Mudzamiri

MORE than 1 000 Zimbabweans yesterday converged on Mbembesi to witness the burial of former ambassador to Angola, Ethopia, Djibouti, Nepal, India and Bangladesh and chief of Mbembesi, Dr Neville Mkatshana Hadebe Ndondo.
Dr Ndondo died on Monday morning at the age of 75 after succumbing to renal failure at Mater Dei Hospital in Bulawayo. He had been admitted to the private hospital for a week.

Speaking at the burial, Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister, Dr Ignatius Chombo, who also conveyed President Mugabe’s message to the Ndondo family, said Chief Ndondo had relentlessly served the nation in various positions from the time of the liberation struggle right up to when he had been appointed chief of Mbembesi in 2010.

He said the late chief was a determined visionary who was ambitious and dedicated to improving service delivery for his people.
“It is unfortunate that the revered chief passed on so soon without fulfilling some of his dear aspirations. He was development oriented and he desired to bring his family together in the spirit of progress and prosperity. I have no doubt that the people of this area will continue to render unwavering support to their traditional leaders so that development needs of the people are promoted and realised.

“Determined visionary, ambitious and dedicated among others were some of Dr Ndondo’s attributes. Chief Ndondo was the first chairperson for the Community Share Ownership Trust, a government programme which seeks to empower the communities by providing them with social services such as boreholes, clinics, schools and roads, he was instrumental in ensuring that such services were rendered to his people,” said Dr Chombo.

He called on leaders to emulate the works of Chief Ndondo as these were attributes that the nation required for them to further push the development agenda.

“Chief Ndondo was an upright leader whose leadership qualities will be cherished by generations to come, he has no record of abusing his office and authority for personal gain. Dr Neville Ndondo was a distinguished civil servant who rose through the ranks to become a diplomat par-excellence and an astute permanent secretary.

“He worked tirelessly for the Government of Zimbabwe. He shunned corruption and traditional malpractices, Government appreciated his selfless leadership and his commitment to impartial and fair leadership, he actually led by example,” said the minister.

Speaking on the same occasion, Transport and Infrastructural  Development Minister Dr Obert Mpofu echoed Dr Chombo’s sentiments noting that Chief Ndondo was so particular about serving his people and bringing development to Mbembesi.

He called on the Ndondo family not to ruin the late chief’s works by starting squabbles on who was going to take over the chieftainship, noting that according to tradition it was already known who was the rightful heir hence anyone who did not qualify was never going to make it to the helm.

“I know that right now there are already a number of you who are already clamouring for the chieftainship position, some have already installed themselves, what I would like to tell them today is that they should immediately stop fooling themselves and stop trying to get something that is not theirs.

“Let us not ruin the works that were done by Chief Ndondo. We all know him and have worked with him. This position of being chief is very important and crucial to the country, even if I as a minister wanted to be such I will never ever be one that is how important it is,” said Dr Mpofu.

He said it was essential that people unite and follow in the footsteps of Chief Ndondo.
“Chief Ndondo was a unifier just look at all the people here to see him off. We have people from all political parties, from all over the country, people of different races and tribes. This will show you the type of man Chief Ndondo was,” he said.

President of the Chief’s Council, Chief Fortune Charumbira said as chiefs they had lost a revered colleague who knew and worked for the key attributes of traditional leadership.

Also present at the burial were Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises and Co-operative Development, Cde Sithembiso Nyoni; Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, Engineer George Mlilo; Zanu- PF Matabeleland North provincial chairperson Cde Richard Moyo; deputy president of the Chiefs’ Council, Chief Mtshana Khumalo and chiefs from all over the country.

Dr Ndondo was born on 2 February 1939 to Cronje and Elsie Ndondo in Inyathi area in the then Rhodesia.
He did his primary education at Gutu Mission before proceeding to Matopo High School.

Dr Ndondo then enrolled for his first degree at Prague School of Economics in Czechoslovakia where he also attained a Master of Science degree in Economics in 1968. Among his diplomatic duties he was also appointed to be the country’s Permanent Representative to the then Organisation of African Unity.

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