Rutendo Nyeve, Sunday News Reporter
THE late National Hero, Colonel (Retired) Tshinga Dube will be buried at the National Heroes Acre in Harare on Wednesday with a funeral service set to be held tomorrow (Monday) at Bulawayo’s Barbourfields Stadium.
Col (Rtd) Dube passed away on Thursday evening at Mater Dei Hospital in Bulawayo at the age of 83 after battling kidney failure.
Speaking soon after a meeting between the Dube family and senior Government representatives led by Deputy Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Reverend Paul Damasane at the family home in Killarney yesterday, the late National Hero’s son and family spokesperson, Mr Vusumuzi Dube, said the tentative day for burial date is Wednesday with programmes to bid farewell to Col (Rtd) Dube set for today until Tuesday.
“We have discussed and as a family proposed that our father be laid to rest on Wednesday. Tomorrow (today), the body will be taken to his farm at Shangani where friends, workers and neighbours will get an opportunity to bid him farewell.
“On Monday, a funeral service will be held for the people of Bulawayo to pay their last respects at Barbourfields Stadium. We expect various speakers to deliver their speeches there. On Tuesday, a funeral parade will be held at Imbizo Barracks before the body is flown to Harare for burial set for Wednesday,” said Mr Dube.
Meanwhile, the late Col (Rtd) Dube has been described as a straightforward man who feared no one when it came to speaking the truth.
Zanu-PF Politburo member Cde Richard Ndlovu said Col (Rtd) Dube joined the liberation struggle at a young age in the 60s and was short-tempered especially when someone did things the wrong way.
“We were very young when we went to the war including the late Col (Rtd) Dube. He was a man with a very short temper at the time and wanted things to be done straightforwardly. He gained political consciousness while at school where during the time, it was very rife. He then crossed the borders to Botswana and would return later on to map and pave ways for the guerillas to come and fight the settler regime.
“It was a very difficult task as this mission got him arrested before he went back and reported to the superiors. After that he went to the Soviet Union where he played a huge role there before coming back to play a crucial role during the integration of the army,” said Cde Ndlovu.
He said Col (Rtd) Dube had the welfare of comrades at heart till his untimely death as witnessed by his active role in the ZPRA Nitram properties process.
ZIPRA Nitram Properties board chairperson, Cde Volta Ekem Moyo said the moment when President Mnangagwa gave a directive that he wished to talk to one group in terms of Nitram properties, Col (Rtd) Dube became their co-ordinator after being assigned by Vice-President Kembo Mohadi.
“Col (Rtd) Dube came and organised us so that we formed one board. From there, we worked together, he nurtured us, he grew us up to a point where to a certain extent he whipped us bit by bit, as if he knew he was not going to live more than what it is. What I would like to say is that failure to achieve the objective of giving ZPRA properties, it will be tainting the late Col (Rtd) Dube’s legacy.
“Even during his time when he was not feeling well, he was very worried that he had wanted to see the comrades getting their properties so that they can live a better life. He was very specific that all those properties, they should be given back to the proper owners. We had several meetings where he was encouraging us to remain intact, to use the language of unity and try to make sure that everybody comes on board,” said Cde Moyo.
Zanu-PF politburo member Cde Elifasi Mashaba said as a province they had lost a guide, advisor and elder who did not hesitate to speak the truth.
He urged people from Bulawayo and the rest of the nation to go in their numbers and bid farewell to one of their own national heroes.
The late Col (Rtd) Dube was born on 3 July 1941at Fort Usher in Matobo District, Matabeleland South Province.
He did his primary education at Fort Usher before going to Solusi College by then. He then crossed into Zambia before being sent to the then USSR in 1964 at the age of 21. In 1965, he returned to Zambia as a trained fighter and specialised in communications.
He was then deployed to Rhodesia to politicise the masses and carry out skirmishes if the need arose. In 1967 he went back to Zambia where he was appointed camp commander of Luthuli Camp.
The party, ZAPU, got the late Col (Rtd) Dube a scholarship to go study in Moscow in 1973 and was sent to MADI Institute where he completed his studies after attaining a Masters in Engineering in 1979.
He returned to Zambia in July 1979 and was appointed ZPRA Chief of Communications, filling the void left by Cde Zvafa Moyo, the brother of former Air Force of Zimbabwe commander, Chief Air Marshal (Rtd) Elson Moyo who had been killed in combat.
After Independence he served for 10 years as the Commander of ZNA Signal Corps before he was posted to the Ministry of Defence in 1990 as deputy secretary of the ministry to head the department of Research and Development.
In 1993 he was appointed Chief Executive of the Zimbabwe Defence Industries(ZDI), a company he established and grew to be an international company.
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