Tuesday is proving hard to accept for the majority of the people of Zimbabwe and those who knew him elsewhere in the world.
But the reality of the matter is that the General of Generals in no more.

In as much as there would be questions about his sudden and painful death, there are also many leadership lessons to learn from his lofty achievements in the armed struggle, the Zimbabwe National Army, in politics and in business.
He is one man that straddled all these disciplines with excellence. In reviewing his life one is tempted to believe that he was born a leader for how else would he have led the armed struggle at such a young age, growing in wisdom and stature to become such an icon in politics and business.

He made a name for himself in the armed struggle, always putting his life on the line to take up difficult and dreaded responsibilities.
Using his nom de gurrre Rex Nhongo, he was the epitome of the armed struggle that liberated Zimbabwe. Many songs were penned and sung during and after that struggle to motivate the people of Zimbabwe to soldier on. And quite often such songs would be punctuated with Mukoma Nhongo’s name, which was always associated with the sub-machine gun and other weapons that the freedom fighters used.

Implied in all this was that he personified an indefatigable character, one who could not be defeated. In the end it took fire to conquer him but in a heart-rending way. Many would have expected him to get out of that house and survive that inferno.
But it was not to be. Perhaps this is what leaves a lot of people with questions about his death. After surviving so many battles before, including bullets, they wonder why he would not get out of his house as the fire raged on.

Police should therefore do thorough investigations and bring answers to the questions that people have that will help them accept the passing on of their hero.
What makes it difficult to reconstruct his last moments was that he was on his own when he met his death. He was a man that freely moved around. Fear was not associated with him. He did not want people to fear him and he also had no reason to fear anyone.

Even after achieving so much he remained a down to earth leader, a man of the people and yet an unquestionable general.
The simplicity of his personality made him a complex character. People could not understand how such a symbol of the armed struggle could be so simple. But we all knew that inside that simplicity was a lion that had defeated the best armies of colonial Rhodesia and others in post-independence campaigns.

President Mugabe said of General Mujuru: “A courageous fighter and commander who led from the front, General Mujuru was part of the wartime command, which moulded thousands of young men and women who had crossed borders into Zambia, Mozambique and Tanzania into a formidable and disciplined guerilla army with the capability of dismantling the racist settler colonial dispensation.”

Testimonies pouring in speak of a man with an uncommon strategic focus in war situations, in peacetime military activities, in politics and in business. These testimonies converge on the fact that he was a visionary who could quickly put together a winning a team; a general that led from the front.
This is perhaps why professors, businesspeople, politicians and ordinary people all paid homage to him and sought his leadership. He was a man of great influence and used it to build up others.

Leadership development was his forte and many are testifying how he built them up in business, in the military, in politics and other spheres of life.
He achieved as much in post-independent Zimbabwe as he did in the liberation struggle. He had that ability to remain relevant well after retiring from the military or when he was no longer a Member of Parliament.

Perhaps the only blemish to his political life was the continued association in the media of his name with a faction in Zanu-PF. But in the few interviews he had with the media he always distanced himself from such divisive activities.
Whether or not those that linked him to such activities were correct, his life story of leading the armed struggle, integrating the Zanla, Zipra and Rhodesian forces into one army, which he led until retirement in 1992, and his achievements thereafter, dwarf whatever weaknesses he had.

Those that used his name to pursue their own divisive agendas must learn from his life story that he was much bigger than narrow sectional interests as his leadership appeal transcended the ranks of Zanu-PF and he continued to enjoy the respect of leaders of other political parties who found him easy to get along with
It would be hard to find anyone who would disagree that he is a national hero. He deserves the status bestowed on him and to lie with other heroes and heroines at the National Heroes Acre.

In his death, Zanu PF, the party that he served with great distinction, should find strength to continue with the struggle to defend our sovereignty over our affairs and our resources.
In the same way that General Mujuru moved from the armed struggle to politics and then to business, as a nation we can also grow through these phases and become not only a political giant but also an economic one.

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