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Mr Kenneth Kavhumbura is a veteran in the trade

Leroy Dzenga Features Writer

The adage, “Do what you love and you will never have to work for a day in your life” aptly describes 78-year-old Kenneth Kavhumbura.This man has dedicated the whole of his adult life to selling newspapers and bringing information to Harare residents.The Mutoko-born newspaper vendor, who started selling the paper close to six decades ago, chronicles how he ended up in the trade.“When I came from Mutoko at around 16-years old, I started working as a cook at a house at Morris Depot.

“While I was working there, one of the frequent visitors spoke to me and invited me to join the company he was working for which distributed The Rhodesian Herald,” Kavhumbura said.

The now defunct Norway Enterprise proved to be a warm home for him.“My first posting was in Borrowdale at corner of Ridgeway and Steppes Road.“What made me love the job more is that those who bought the paper used to give tips, so I would have a decent amount to take home daily from these tips,” said Kavhumbura.

In 1977, sales at his Borrowdale base started dwindling and he had to move to Newlands Shopping Centre, a place he stayed at for a decade.When the country got its independence, the distributing agency he worked with was disbanded.“When Zimbabwe attained its independence in 1980, I joined Zimpapers and continued selling the same papers I was selling as our agent was selling the same editions before Independence,” he said.

He remembers fondly some of the first black faces who he worked with at Herald House.“At that time our direct supervisor was the late Caiphas Muzvaire who used to collect the money everyday after a day out,” Kavhumbura said.In 1987, Kavhumbura again made a move to corner Glenara Avenue and Samora Machel Ave in search of more traffic and sales.

Mr Kavhumbura sells a copy of The Herald to a motorist

“I followed where people were buying papers. Other vendors who used to assist me to sell papers helped me identify the place.”He has been at the place to date and says the post is his last.“If my current point of business starts losing its mettle, I will take that as a cue to go to my rural area and rest with my wife,” he said.

His long career has allowed him and Maria, his wife since 1960, to send their four children to school up to Form Four level.The job has also allowed him to build two houses, one in rural Mutoko and another in Chizhanje area of Mabvuku where he currently resides.But it has not always been rosy for Kavhumbura.In the late 1970s, he spent close to a year bedridden after a work accident.“As you know that we sell our papers in the middle of the road, there is always a threat of one being run over and I have been a victim once.

“In 1978, I was hit by a car while I was trying to sell someone a copy of The Rhodesian Herald in Newlands.”He says the long stay in Parirenyatwa Hospital made him realise the importance of his job.

“I sustained neck injuries and a cracked skull. With every day I stayed in the hospital I felt like my life was stagnant because I was the breadwinner and the fact that I was not out fending for my family hurt me,” said Kavhumbura.

The effects of the accident are still evident as he moves his neck very slowly every time he turns his head.Kavhumbura used to ride his bicycle from Mabvuku to town daily until he met robbers on his way to work.

“I used to leave home around 3am, enabling me to arrive in the CBD to collect the paper at around 4am. One day I met robbers on my way and they took my bicycle,” he said.

He says although they did not harm him physically, this made him rethink his work logistics.Now he uses public transport from Mabvuku to his selling place corner Samora Machel Avenue and Glenara Avenue, then he collects his bicycle and rides to town to collect the paper.

Around 3pm when he is done selling the paper he rides back to town to cash in the money, after that he goes back to his selling post, leaves his bicycle with a friend and catches public transport back to Mabvuku.

Another challenge he has faced in his long career are unscrupulous customers who come with counterfeit bank notes.Kavhumbura says his future in this job is dependent on how fit he continues to be in the coming years.

“I am not sure how long I will continue to sell the paper, but for as long as I am strong to wake up and come to work, I do not see why I should stop.”He has acquaintances in the area that he sells in, some of whom say they get worried when they fail to locate him on the street corner every morning.

“People come to me specifically because we have built a relationship with the community around here. I leave my bicycle at one of my regular customers’ place.“In winter when I am at my post some even bring me a cup of tea to keep me warm since the shops are a distance from where I work.”

Kavhumbura is also a favourite among the Eastlea residents and motorists who frequent his selling point.Desire Chinyani, an Eastlea resident whom The Herald interviewed, expressed his admiration for a man whose work ethic is unquestionable.

He says Sekuru, as they call him, has been at the corner since his boyhood days and now he has his own family.“I remember a while ago when my father used to send me to get the paper. I would rush to buy from Sekuru and now I am grown up with my own family and he is still on the same spot going strong,” Chinyani said.

Chinyani said Kavhumbura is always eager to engage in conversations on topical issues and giving out general life advice.“Rarely do you see him in a bad mood, he is always smiling and joking around. He has become a friend to most people around here. Some newspaper vendors tried to compete with him but the people around here are loyal to Sekuru,” he said.

Even his co-vendors at the street corner also spoke highly of Kavhumbura whom they described as caring and witty.A lot of people claim the title newsman but Kavhumbura is the only legitimate claimant to the tag if his longstanding commitment can be used as a yardstick.

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