The Sunday News
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
ZIMBABWE’S Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Dr Jetro Ndombondayi Ndlovu has died. He was 66.
Amb Ndlovu reportedly succumbed to Covid-19 yesterday morning in the country after he had come to mourn his mother who died last week and his brother who died in December 2020.
The acting minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Professor Amon Murwira, confirmed Dr Ndlovu’s death. He said he died at a Harare hospital.
Member of Parliament for Umzingwane Constituency Brigadier General (Retired) Levy Mayihlome who worked with the late Ambassador in the constituency described him as a man with a strong passion for development. He said Dr Ndlovu recently tested positive to Covid-19.
“He was instrumental in coming up with the Umzingwane Development Trust concept. He was one of the founders and became the founding chairman because of his skill, experience and passion for development. He had been a general manager of several companies and had a wealth of knowledge. He was very passionate about development and when I won the Umzingwane constituency seat in the 2018 elections, he was one of the people who supported me with ideas on what to do in order to develop the constituency,” he said.
He added that Ambassador Ndlovu brought together people of Umzingwane to form Umzingwane Community Development Trust which bound them together in developing the constituency. The Trust has several clusters such as infrastructure, education, health, cultural heritage, industry, science and technology and mining, among others.
“When he was appointed to be the ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, he remained an active member despite relinquishing his post for the ambassadorial duties. The country at large saw the same qualities that Umzingwane was seeing by duly appointing him as an ambassador to one of the richest parts of the world. We were excited to have Dr Ndlovu in the UAE as all ideas that he was seeing there, he was bringing to us and we were thinking that we would have synergies where he would link up Umzingwane with other cities there and bring in investors. We had so many ideas but alas, it was never to be. He is gone. Last month he lost his brother, last week he lost his mother, he had come for the funeral and now he is gone. It’s a day of mourning in Umzingwane,” said Hon Mayihlome.
Dr Ndlovu was a war veteran and was part of the Zipra aviation team as an aircraft technician. He was described as a humble man who never flaunted his well-to-do status and a man who discussed development with everyone he met no matter their status in society.
Dr Ndlovu served in the Airforce of Zimbabwe under various capacities, he also served in the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation, Falcon Air and also sat in various boards.
Meanwhile, Zanu-PF has sent a message of condolence to the Ndlovu family.
“The ruling Zanu-PF joins the rest of the nation in consoling His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe and the Ndlovu family following the untimely demise of Zimbabwe’s incumbent Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Cde Jethro Ndombondayi Ndlovu.”
In a statement, the party’s Secretary for Administration Dr Obert Mpofu said Ambassador Ndlovu’s passing on marks yet another unforeseen gloomy episode to the nation’s Covid-19 induced devastations.
“The late Chief of Staff to Zimbabwean diplomatic corps in Dubai acquitted himself as a distinguished anti-colonial stalwart whose footprints in Zimbabwe’s national memory dates back to the days of our liberation struggle. The late diplomat’s test of unflinching loyalty to the nation also dates back to his diligent service to the nation after independence,” he said.
He described the death of Ambassador Ndlovu as an assault to the Second-Republic’s objective of reconstructing Zimbabwe’s diplomatic adhesion which had suffered unprecedented threats culminating in the nation’s extensive isolation by imperialist forces. — @NyembeziMu.
