The Sunday News
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa honoured his pledge to provide a comfortable home, car and other necessities for the late liberation heroine, Cde Jane Ngwenya who was buried at the National Heroes Acre on Friday morning.
After visiting her at Coronation Cottages in Bulawayo where she lived because she wanted to be near health facilities, the President on his last visit ensured that he lived up to the promises that he made a year earlier.
Cde Ngwenya was immobile due to advanced age and illness and would fail to appear at some engagements.
However, President Mnangagwa, in October last year, availed a brand-new white Isuzu double-cab vehicle which would enable her to be driven to medical facilities to receive medical care and also for her to be taken where she wished for any other engagements.
The President then decided to move her to her rightful home in Esigodini where she owned a farm and in November last year the construction of a new house was started where she spent the last two months living.
“It was built from scratch, on the side of the homestead that was there initially when we got this place. We had some structures that were there and they have also been spruced up,” said Mr Shingirayi Ngwenya, her only surviving son in an interview with Sunday News.
“We have a water source that is here and they have now connected it to a Jojo tank so that we can store water and in the event that there are power cuts we still have some to use. We were constantly switching the pump on and off so that we could use water. We have a borehole that was drilled for us which is for irrigation since we have land that we use for farming. We have an old pool that is on the plot that was being renovated because it was not ideal for swimming but one of the old lady’s wishes was to start a fishing project and we wanted to use this as a fish pond,” he added.
A water reservoir that is on the farm will be installed with a booster pump that will enable them to irrigate crops throughout the year. Shingirayi said the President also ensured that the plot was fenced off and the old homestead renovated with painting, putting in of ceilings and a geyser but the priority was the home of the late national heroine that was completed first.
“The developments that were being done here are tremendous because they provided everything for her including the main gate that leads to the house, they were all replaced with new ones. They wanted gogo to have her own yard within the main yard so they did just that and they fenced off her home with palisade fencing.”
The family said they were at peace knowing that she saw all that she had been provided for by President Mnangagwa.
“What has given us peace also is that just before she left us, she saw the house, the harvest that we had, she saw her cows and enjoyed a bit of sunshine while staying there. She said to me, “Its nice to have your own home” which she enjoyed for the two months she was here. When she fell ill, I took her from here to Mater Dei Hospital.
“The regrettable thing would have been to have taken her from Coronation Cottages to the hospital, that would have made it very difficult to even live on the farm in a newly-built home that President Mnangagwa built for her.
“She was happy with our harvest as she always said if you don’t have your own land and you do not farm then life will be hard. You cannot buy a tomato or an onion, do it yourself,” he said.
Shingirayi said her mother’s home was fitted with a solar lighting system in case there are power cuts.
“She also had a solar geyser fitted for her. It was livable by the end of April in 2021 but it so happened that mid-April she suffered a mild stroke and could not move and we had to manage her from Coronation Cottages. But I was keen on getting her to her completed home because she had all of this done for her and she was yet to come and live in her new home,” he said.
He added; “Inside her home she had her bedroom with an ensuite and also a bedroom for her nurse aide who was to take care of her. The rest of the rooms of the house such as the kitchen, living room were also fully furnished even to the last teaspoon of this house. A gazebo was also built for her where she managed to sit and enjoy the sun about two or three times before she passed on.”
Shingirayi said he was grateful for the generosity of the President towards his mother.
“We were very excited and initially very shocked because we could not believe it because we had just concluded that she was not really being recognised but when this came through, we were shocked, very excited and very grateful. We really appreciated the developments. Mum could not believe it, I remember she actually shared with her close confidante, Cde Angeline Masuku to say she could not believe what was happening. I am glad that she enjoyed this and I am happy and I know she was too,” he said.
He said the developments were all a sign that she was still remembered by the President.
“The Second Republic was very quick to remember gogo. When President Mnangagwa wanted to meet with gogo one time, I requested that an ambulance be sent to fetch her so that she sees him at the State House but he said he was going to come and see her at Coronation Cottages, that just blew me away. He came and saw her with other ministers. That for me was very humbling,” he said. — @NyembeziMu
