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CDE CHIVENDE

Daniel Kachere Herald Correspondent
Zanu-PF cadre, Cde Mudhumeni Chivende, who died on Saturday, has been declared a provincial hero and will be buried at his Mwera Oyera farm tomorrow morning.

Mashonaland West Province had requested that he be declared a national hero. Cde Chivende died in the early hours of Saturday at Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital where he had been admitted for about two months. Party national secretary for Administration Dr Ignatius Chombo confirmed this yesterday. “Cde Mudhumeni Chivende has been declared a provincial war hero in recognition of his service in Mashonaland West. The party has respected his wish to be buried at his farm in Raffingora and we have considered this arrangement. He will be buried on Wednesday (tomorrow) morning,” he said.

Cde Chivende joined politics in the early 1960s when he became a member of the National Democratic Party led by the late Vice President Dr Joshua Nkomo and the Trade Union Congress.

After NDP was banned, Cde Chivende joined ZAPU led by Cde Michael Mawema before he was arrested and brought to Chinhoyi for trial. He mobilised youths who converged at the court to disrupt proceedings and the case was transferred to Inkomo where it was held in the presence of soldiers. Cde Chivende became a youth wing organising secretary for ZAPU before it was banned and he joined the People’s Caretaker Council which was engaged in underground politics. When ZANU broke away from ZAPU in 1963, Cde Chivende was instrumental in its organisation in Chinhoyi.

He was arrested, detained and restricted on numerous occasions. Cde Chivende became chief coordinator for military groups in Chinhoyi, Chegutu, Rusape, Harare and Masvingo.

He communicated with the Chegutu Group of liberation fighters which coordinated and killed a white farmer at Navada Farm in the 1960s. This led to his arrest and torture together with the late Cde Alex Nharara and Cde Bridget Mugabe.

These were the early warning signs of agitation at the white colonial occupation. In 1966, Cde Chivende and others organised to plunge the then Rhodesia into total darkness by acts of sabotage on the power lines from Kariba. The plan was detected, leading to his arrest together with Cde Nharara. They were detained in Chinhoyi before they were sent to Harare Central Prison where they met the late national hero Cde Maurice Nyagumbo. They were then moved to Goromonzi Confinement. Later, they were moved to Harare Central Prison where they met veteran nationalists including President Mugabe, the late Vice President Simon Muzenda, Cdes Edson Zvobgo, Edison Sithole and Leopold Takawira. In 1967, Cde Chivende was sent to Sikombela Restriction where he was to spend three years.

He attended the Geneva talks in 1976 and when he returned he was arrested and taken to Whawha restriction camp in 1977.

Cde Chivende was released in 1979 to enable him to attend the Lancaster House Conference and after that, he helped in organising the landmark 1980 elections.