The Sunday News
Vincent Gono, Features Editor
IT is exactly 17 years since the country lost Dr Simon Vengai Muzenda who was an epitome of humility, a man of immeasurable wisdom and at most the genesis of servant leadership in independent Zimbabwe.
He was a man who respected not only authority and hierarchy but social relations despite his position as the second in charge in the corridors of national power, at least according to one of his political mentees Cde Lovemore Matuke.
He was a humble carpenter with the amazing ability to join together planks into one solid piece of furniture and could not have failed to bring together all the people of Zimbabwe regardless of tribe into one coherent body.
A veteran freedom fighter, a father figure and a cultural icon, are just a few of the superlatives that are apt in describing the celebrated life of a true son of the soil, the late Vice-President of Zimbabwe Dr Simon Vengai Muzenda.
The late Dr Muzenda who departed to the great beyond on 20 September 2003 was a larger than life character whose contribution to the nation’s body politic was immense and earned himself the moniker Soul of the Nation at his death.
Cde Matuke who lived with Dr Muzenda for 14 years described him as a visionary with an exceptional ability of seeing beyond what the ordinary person saw, saying any defiance to what he would have advised was always regrettable and met with dire consequences.
“Before his death he told the former President Mugabe that President Mnangagwa was to succeed him as Vice-President in line with their wartime agreement in Mozambique but somehow Mugabe defied his word. So some of us who have lived with him knew exactly what he had wanted and we were not shocked by the unsettling events in the country’s body politic. We were just scratching our noses with the little finger remembering what the Soul of the Nation had said about the country’s leadership after him,” said Cde Matuke.
According to Cde Matuke, the late Vice-President was a selfless, dedicated, loyal and humble figure whose stature not only symbolised the wholeness of the nation that he fought for but the unity and solidness of the country Zimbabwe.
Dr Muzenda or simply Dr Mzee as he was affectionately known, became a father not only to his family but to the family of Zimbabwe and he dedicated his entire life to be a servant of the people.
He said despite occupying one of the politically revered offices in the country, Dr Muzenda remained so much connected to the grassroots and identified so well with the villagers even to the point of sitting at various village beer drinking gatherings.
“He was a very good listener who would give his ear without measure to the people’s problems and would always make sure that he does his best to ensure that they were resolved timeously,” said Cde Matuke.
His vision and his love for his culture and tradition made people believe that he was somehow a traditional healer or spirit medium but contrary to the belief, Dr Mzee was only a son of the soil who remained true to his traditional beliefs but was neither a traditional healer nor a herbalist. He was a Christian who was baptised in the Roman Catholic Church and remained there until the time of his death.
“I also used to believe that the old man was a spirit medium, that he had some supernatural instincts but I later realised he was neither a prophet nor a spirit medium but had a natural gift of seeing beyond what ordinary people could see. It made him unique and prophetic.
“Despite his position he would go to his rural home and attend village head gatherings where he would raise his hand and if picked participate like any other villager. He submitted so much to traditional authority and would lower himself to suit every level he finds himself in. I remember at one time he sent me home to remove my suit when we were going to meet the community. He was a servant leader, the same as President Mnangagwa, the two seem to have been cut from the same cloth. He would go and shovel sand with other villagers whenever there was community work in his rural area, and would do traditional dances, recite poems and sing traditional songs when the occasions called for that,” said Cde Matuke, adding it was his wit, charisma and spirituality than academic qualifications that defined him politically.
He said he was what he was now because of the late Vice-President although he admitted he would never get to his level. He said Dr Mzee was paying fees for over 40 children at various educational institutions in the community and had initiated so many economic empowering projects.
Sunday News also spoke to the late nationalist’s son Tongai who said he still felt the irreplaceable void that was created by death when it robbed them of their father. He said their father had become a parent, leader, teacher, friend and a role model. His values of integrity, respect, honesty and equality in the distribution of national resources was what set him apart from others. He was not corrupt and he taught us to be straight morally.
“He was admired by many because of his humility. To show that he appreciated his role as a national leader he would pay fees for the community first and at times let us be threatened with expulsion from school before he pays for us. He wouldn’t allow us to take pride in being kids of a senior politician. He actually instilled a serious sense of equality with others in us and would teach us to work hard in everything we wanted to be in life.
“I grew up not very different from other people in the rural community.
“He refused us any special treatment. I remember when I was going to secondary school. He told me that I was supposed to apply and if I was unsuccessful, to apply to another school until I get a place,” said Cde Tongai.
He added that, that his father was a spiritual medium or traditional healer was a fallacy. “He was not. He was a proponent of cultural values and was excited about everything traditional. He had a strong spiritual resolve and would dream like anyone else, like you and me,” he said.
Cde Tongai added that he was very kind and understood that he had a big family — the family Zimbabwe where he dedicated much of his time to. He said he was very traditional and enjoyed traditional dishes such as pumpkin leaves with dovi, audible ants (majuru) as well as sorghum and rapoko sadza. Mice (mbeva) were also part of the delicacy that the late Vice-President enjoyed. His humility was the umbilical cord that connected him with the villagers.
He added that although the province had lost several iconic leaders in the mould of Dr Eddison Zvobgo, Cde Josiah Tungamirai, Cde Vitalis Zvinavashe, Dr Stan Mudenge and many others, the province continue to breed leaders who uphold values espoused to them by veteran nationalist leaders although there were some bad apples.
Cde Josiah Hungwe who is among the crop of politicians who were mentored by Dr Mzee spoke passionately and glowingly of him describing him as a unifier.
They concurred that had he been around most of the things that are occurring in the party and in Government were not going to happen.
Cde Hungwe said Dr Mzee loved everyone and only hated Satan.
He said the late Vice-President was a natural leader who did not want to go to school to perfect any of his qualities.
He said he was a down to earth kind of politician who detested corruption and maintained an open door policy that helped him connect very well with the communities. He added that Dr Mzee was the cement that unified the party and had he been around the factions and factional fighting were not going to be there.
Born on 28 October 1922 in Gutu District of what was then the Victoria Province of Southern Rhodesia, Cde Muzenda attended Nyamande Primary School before proceeding to Gokomere Mission and later to Domboshava where he trained as a teacher.
In 1945, Dr Mzee demonstrated a high degree of political consciousness when he turned down a farming scholarship to train as an agricultural administrator, arguing that such a career will lead him to a collision course with his own people as the job required him to supervise the killing of cattle belonging to fellow African people.
Dr Muzenda then went to teach at Empandeni Mission in Matabeleland South where he met President Mugabe.
The two became friends. His passion for education made him to enroll at Marianhill College in South Africa for a three year Diploma in Carpentry. After completing the course, he worked in Durban, South Africa before returning home in 1950.
It was then that he married his childhood sweetheart, Maud Matsikidze. Armed with the political experience that he earned from his sojourn in South Africa, Dr Muzenda became involved in trade unionism in Bulawayo, becoming prominent in 1953 when he was elected Secretary General of the African Voice. He became a mentor to many who went on to become prominent nationalists.
Dr Muzenda was also one of the guiding personalities who were instrumental in the formation of National Development Party (NDP) in 1960. He was later elected to be the NDP Organising Secretary for Masvingo.
When the NDP was banned, Dr Mzee became the administrative secretary for Zapu in the then Fort Victoria.
Cde Muzenda was a renowned poet. Such a path, however, landed him in trouble in 1962 when he recited the famous Nehanda Nyakasikana poem. He was banned from entering the area.
Represented by the late firebrand barrister and later Zanu-PF chairman, Cde Herbert Chitepo in court, Dr Muzenda successfully challenged the ban.
However, he was again arrested in Zvishavane for an alleged seditious speech blamed for igniting riots in the town.
He was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment but served only two years which he described as a time of study. Upon his release, he attended Zanu’s first congress in Gweru in 1964 where he was elected Deputy Organising Secretary.
Soon after his election, he was arrested for possessing a pistol and was sent to Sikombela where he reunited with President Mugabe.
Upon his release, he moved to Zambia, then to Mozambique.
Dr Muzenda suffered a personal tragedy as he lost one of his daughters Theresa during the Chimoio attack.
He became Vice-President of Zanu-PF at its congress in exile held in Chomoio in 1977. On the diplomatic front, he attended the Geneva Conference in 1976, Lancaster House as well as the Malta and Dar es Salaam talks.
In recognition of his selfless and unparalleled contribution to the liberation struggle, Dr Muzenda was appointed Zimbabwe’s first Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1980. In 1988, he was appointed Vice-President of the Republic of Zimbabwe.
