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Walter Nyamukondiwa Chinhoyi Bureau—

Veteran politician and former Mashonaland West provincial governor Cde Peter Chanetsa, who died on Monday, was a well-known figure in many sectors in the country.

During his illustrious life as a politician, Cde Chanetsa, who died at the age of 70, came into contact with people from different spheres of life.

Some of the professionals he interacted with more often during his time were journalists.

As the Chief of Protocol to President Mugabe in the 1980s, Cde Chanetsa had an opportunity to interact with both local and international media.

And when he later became the provincial governor for Mashonaland West, he interacted more with local journalists and those who came into contact with him often wondered at his openness with the media.

Cde Chanetsa was a true friend of the media, always available with information when requested.

As The Herald’s bureau chief for Mashonaland West Province, my recollection of Cde Chanetsa is that he was both a news source and an advisor to media personnel in the province.

I still recall one sunny afternoon in the era of the Government of National Unity when a Government delegation visited several areas in the province to assess operations and programmes.

After the Chirundu leg of the tour, Cde Chanetsa invited the media crew comprising myself and the ZBC team of Regis Mhako and Tambaoga Gora to travel in his vehicle.

He had noticed that the kind of vehicle we were using could not keep pace with mostly the Prados that were being used by most of the Government officials in the rough terrain.

Cde Chanetsa’s vehicle was a red Isuzu twin cab, the memory of which remains vivid as it remained a common feature of the late veteran politician up to mid-2016.

He made us feel welcome and comfortable, with me occupying the front seat while my colleagues took positions at the back seat.

All was well until restrained glances at the speedometer showed that the marker oscillated between 140 and 180km/hr, a nightmarish proposition for Regis who sat in the back-seat.

Gora remained mum while I was unperturbed, perhaps with a bit of admiration because the vehicle seemed power packed to easily manoeuvre the steep ascends characterising the Chirundu road.

For Regis, being used to travelling in his then well-known maroon jalopy that hardly made it to 120km/hr due to a combination of fear on the part of the driver and the vehicle’s battered engine due to a punishing schedule, the journey proved to be the longest.

Regis’ first question was tersely rhetorical, but crafted to send an embedded message to Cde Chanetsa.

“Anoshanda here mabelt ekumashure?” (Are the back seatbelts functioning?) came the question.

Cde Chanetsa’s response addressed the functionality of the seatbelts, but unfortunately for Regis that did not even remotely address his worries.

He changed tack, preferring to talk about the large volume of heavy trucks trudging up and down the Harare-Chirundu Highway.

“This road is too busy, especially with heavy trucks which limit the speed that one has to travel at,” he craftily tried to influence the pressure on the accelerator pedal.

This also did not solicit a direct response from Cde Chanetsa as anticipated.

Relief came when vehicles piled up in front of us composed mainly of trucks, which forced the vehicle to slow down to a pedestrian 60km/hr.

We had been discussing general, social, political and economic issues all along, but Cde Chanetsa, who seemed to be at ease behind the steering wheel, suddenly thundered.

“If you want to go, go and get on with it,” he said in apparent reference to the driver of a Nissan Hardbody in front of us who moved to overtake at the same time our vehicle was gaining momentum to bolt past the long train.

The driver hesitated and pulled to his lane, stealing seconds that Cde Chanetsa had calculated it would take him to overtake the vehicles.

“This is what causes accidents,” bellowed Cde Chanetsa. “If you decide to go, just go because moments of hesitation affect your judgment.”

The next statement left everyone in stitches.

“I do not want to drive like I am on a wedding or funeral procession,” said Cde Chanetsa. “The only thing left is for us to honk our horns and we are in a wedding procession.”

His opportunity to overtake came and he zoomed past four haulage trucks and several cars and he was back in his comfortable cruising range of 140 to 180km/hr.

Maybe it was part of his training as the Chief of Protocol because there were tales of him asking his driver to move off the driver’s seat if he felt he was not driving fast enough.

It is during that journey that I got to know we shared the same totem – Nhari Unendoro-Nyamasvisva – with Cde Chanetsa.

We were relieved when we got into Chinhoyi town and the point of discussion was how the vehicle was speeding and how everyone vowed that they will never board a vehicle being driven by Cde Chanetsa.

Yet, Cde Chanetsa led a colourful life, in which he held several senior positions.

He was the first black Chief of Protocol at independence before being appointed Mashonaland West Resident Minister and Governor in 1996.

During his tenure as provincial governor, Cde Chanetsa oversaw the crunch phase of the land reform programme in his province in the early 2000s.

He retired from that post in 2003.

Family members said apart from being a politician and farmer, Cde Chanetsa had interests in safaris and fishing.

Born on July 15 1946 in Chinhoyi, Cde Chanetsa started his education in his home area before proceeding to Mabvuku in the then Salisbury.

He then left the country for Mwanza, Tanzania, where he later hooked up with other locals and received military training in the East African nation.

He came back at independence in 1980.

Cde Chanetsa is survived by wife Beatrice and three children.

Mourners are gathered at No. 6 Iona Close, Borrowdale, while others are at his Biri Farm in Zvimba.

As the nation prepares to bid farewell to the firm, but gentle veteran politician, Cde Chanetsa will be remembered as a man of virtue, who did not discriminate against people despite his many lofty positions.