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Bishop Tyson Phiri takes his wife, Judith, for a drive.

Walter Nyamukondiwa Chinhoyi Bureau
Highly regarded author C. S. Lewis once said a person is never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. This adage resonates well with Chinhoyi man Tyson Phiri, who acquired his first ever driver’s licence in 2014 at the age of 82.

While a driver’s licence is often prioritised in the catalogue of modern-day goals in early adulthood along with obtaining a good education and marriage among aspirations, for Phiri, it was one of the few things on his “bucket list”.

Blessed with an assured posture and gait that defies his now 84-year-old body, Phiri took The Herald through his life journey, culminating in his latest achievement.

“I never in my wildest dreams imagined myself owning a car one day. So getting a licence was out of the question until one day in 2010 it just dawned on me that I should have a licence. Call it revelation if you want,” said Phiri, who is now celebrating two years of accident-free driving.

From surviving a bullet wound on the leg inflicted by a determined burglar to becoming a bishop in Zaoga, his life script has been enriched by the latest acquisition.

Living through several wars waged at home and abroad, including the Second Chimurenga, Phiri could have been content to finally lay back and wind down the clock.

Yet, the octogenarian wanted to achieve one more thing in life.

At 78 years he decided that he wanted to drive and his dream was ignited each time he saw a woman driving, making him determined that “if women could do it, I too can do it”.

Even as age and numerous failed attempts compelling him to abandon his quest for a licence, Phiri still soldiered on.

With no formal education, getting a provisional licence was always going to be difficult but he soldiered on until he managed to get it.

This failure was to be followed by more heartache and agony that could have seen the faint hearted giving up.

On several occasions, Phiri struggled with manoeuvring the vehicle through drums and stalling it several times before being disqualified.

Phiri tried 13 times spread over a four- year period to get the licence without success.

But on the 14th attempt which ironically came in 2014 at 82 years of age, he managed to get his licence which as fate would have it, came about a month before he got a vehicle.

“On that day, I was very angry after failing several times. I made an angry prayer directed at evil spirits before leaving. It went well though and I finally got the licence,” he said.

Before he thought of driving, Phiri owned a bicycle, which took him to any place he wanted.

“Whoever needs a licence when riding a bicycle only needs assured equilibrium and stamina coupled with the ability to possess it,” he said.

Phiri’s life has been predicated on the use of a bicycle as a mode of transport with numerous trips to Harare and back to Chinhoyi in one day making up his itinerary back in the days.

That could have smothered the desire to own or drive a vehicle as he could get by easily on his bicycle commonly known as black horse owing to their characteristic black colour.

When he started the journey, family members reluctantly supported him before finally giving their full support after seeing the determination he showed.

However, as days, punctuated by recurrent failure, passed, hope started dissipating as people questioned the rationale of someone his age wanting to get a driver’s licence when he can be chauffeured around in the event that he got a car.

For his wife Judith, numerous fees to the Vehicle Inspection Department and driving schools became a financial strain she was no longer prepared to bear.

“He just started saying he wanted to try and get a driver’s licence one day in 2010 and we thought he was joking but to our surprise he insisted,” said Phiri’s wife Judith.

“I told him, along with other family members, to stop, because when we eventually got a car we could still be chauffeur-driven. I got tired because it was consuming a lot of money which I felt at his age could have been better used elsewhere,” she said.

His 49-year-old son, Steven, concurred that his continued drive to get a licence became a matter of great concern as family members pitied him.

“After many failed attempts we felt that it was too much and he should just stop but he would have none of it. He would pass through the shop with an instructor during his driving lessons. When he went to VID he would fail and come back to tell us,” said Steven.

Born in 1932, Phiri was a cook, a nyau dancer, a boxer, a bicycle enthusiast before fate led him to Bible college in the 1970s where his exertions and time in the trenches of pastorship have seen him rising to the position of bishop in the Zaoga church.

He is blessed with nine children.

Phiri looks a decade younger than his age and attributes that to his genes, a rigorous cycling schedule since early adulthood and God’s grace.

At 84, he still occasionally rides his bicycle to Banket about 22 kilometres away from Chinhoyi and back.

But, after getting his vehicle, a Honda Fit, Phiri has now cut back on cycling.

Some people have gone through their entire lives without meeting the standards expected to get a licence and with it, the right to drive.

However, others have stopped the clock of life from ticking until they achieved their goal.

According to the Guinness Book of Records, two people were issued with driving licences aged 104 years to make it into the history books for being the oldest.

One of them was Fred Hale, who got licensed in 1994 and drove for four years when it expired, and Layne Hall, who was issued with a licence in 1989 and drove until it expired on his birthday in 1993.

After the invention of automobiles, widely credited to Karl Benz of Germany in 1885, licensing for competence and aptitude was not practised until 1903 when it became mandatory in parts of Europe.

North America followed suit in 1910 by initially making it mandatory for chauffeurs before it was extended to everyone after concern from the public over an increase in accidents.

Given Bishop Phiri’s age and line of calling, his parting shot was ironically encapsulated in the late American R &B singer Aaliyah’s 90s hit song “Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number”.

“Age does not define you but your focus and trust in God will help you achieve whatever you set your mind to achieve,” he said.