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Rtd Colonel Sakupwanya

Peter Matambanadzo Senior Reporter
Zanu-PF Secretary for Welfare of the Disabled and Disadvantaged Persons, Retired Colonel Stanley Urayayi Sakupwanya, has died.
He was 75.
Rtd Col Sakupwanya died at Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare on Tuesday night.

Zanu-PF Information and Publicity Secretary Cde Rugare Gumbo said the party regretted to announce the untimely death of Cde Sakupwanya, who had not been feeling well for quite some time and had been in and out of hospital for treatment.

“The President and First Secretary of Zanu-PF Cde R. G. Mugabe, the Politburo, the Central Committee and indeed the whole of Zanu-PF party are saddened by the loss of the veteran nationalist and wish to convey their condolence to the Sakupwanya family,” Cde Gumbo said.

He said Rtd Col Sakupwanya, who was a medical doctor, was a long-standing member of the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (Zapu).

Cde Gumbo said Rtd Col Sakupwanya was in the armed struggle based in Zambia, and contributed immensely to the liberation of Zimbabwe.

“Our sympathy and thoughts are with the Sakupwanya family,” Cde Gumbo said.

Rtd Col Sakupwanya was born in Bulawayo and attended Mzilikazi Primary School before he went to Moeng in Botswana for his secondary education. He joined the liberation struggle in 1963.

He went to Zambia and then the Soviet Union where he trained and also enrolled in medical school.

Rtd Col Sakupwanya completed his studies in 1969 and was deployed in 1972 by Zapu as their East African representative based in Uganda, where he remained until indepen- dence.

At independence, Rtd Col Sakupwanya was part of an advance team that co-ordinated the demobilisation of Zipra and Zanla combatants.
He was then attested into the Zimbabwe National Army in the Medical Corps as a captain and rose through the ranks to retire as a full colonel in 1986.

In 2000, Rtd Col Sakupwanya ran private practice, which focused on improving the health care of rural people and in 1994 he was installed as Chief Sakupwanya.

He was also the Nyanga South Senator from 2000 until 2013.

Rtd Col Sakupwanya is survived by 11 children and 15 grandchildren.

Mourners were yesterday gathered at No. 11 Pevensey Road, Highlands, but will today converge at Ripplemead Farm in Rusape.

Burial arrangements will be announced in due course.