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Acting President Joice Mujuru addresses mourners at the burial of the late national hero Rtd Lt Col Harold Chirenda at the National Heroes’ Acre in Harare yesterday. — (Picture by Justin Mutenda)

ADDRESS BY THE ACTING PRESIDENT, HONOURABLE J.T.R MUJURU, ON THE BURIAL OF RTD LT-COLONEL HAROLD MTANDWA CHIRENDA, NATIONAL HEROES’ ACRE.

Today marks yet another day for us as Zimbabweans. We gather yet again to bury another national hero, another fighter for our freedom Lt-Colonel Harold Mtandwa Chirenda whose Chimurenga name was Elliot Masengo. He left us on New Year’s Day after being unwell for quite some time. His demise comes against the background of a dark 2013 when we lost quite a number of comrades, including our Vice President, Cde John Landa Nkomo. We all prayed for some respite, hoping 2014 would start well, start on a happy note. No, we were wrong. It has started on a tearful note and the National is back in mourning. This is what God has willed and ours is to accept.

On behalf of the ruling party Zanu-PF, His Excellency the President who is away, Government, the People of Zimbabwe and on my own behalf, I wish to convey to the entire Chirenda family my heartfelt condolences. In doing so, I give particular regard to Amai Chirenda, wife of the late departed, and of course to the children, on this great loss of a husband and father respectively. They feel the pain keenest, feel a deep void in their lives. For the one we meet to inter today meant so much to them: emotionally, physically and morally. Today they have to learn to face the world without him, without this solid pillar. It is a moment of great pain, a daunting prospect.

Today the whole Nation joins the Chirenda family in mourning the sad departure of this veteran fighter who served his people and country in an extraordinary way. He was part of a pioneering group of veteran freedom fighters who took up arms to free you and me, to free all of us as Africans thrown into a life of bondage by a cruel colonial history. Alongside 90 others from the then ZAPU’s Department of Special Affairs, he left for Algeria for basic military training between 1964 and 1965. He was part of veteran fighters who braved danger, walked in harm’s way, all to free our country, Zimbabwe. Today that fighter, that tireless figure, lies cold and still, in sharp contrast to the restlessness that characterised his life of struggle. Here, right in front of us are the remains of one among a generation of fighters who began it all.

He rubbed shoulders with leading cadres from other liberation movements of the region, most notably the late Samora Moses Machel who later became the first President of a free Mozambique. Not many of his contemporaries and peers still live to this day. He was among the lucky few who had survived this long. Albert Nxele, his commander, is gone. Comrade Nikita Mangena, again his commander, never made it back home. Cde Lookout Masuku is late. Gone too is Cde Gordon Munyanyi. But today he, too, has succumbed, leaving a bid void that is felt well beyond his family.

His heroic deeds speak to us from far away Algeria, where he trained. They speak to us from Zambia where he commanded many combatants. They speak to us from Tanzania where many recruits went through his meticulous hands as a trainer and commander. We have a few of them with us today, most notably Cde Obert Mpofu, the Minister of Transport and Communications. Among his late students at Morogoro in Tanzania is Rex Nhongo, my late husband. His rise to Chief of Training in 1976 loudly spoke of an able soldier-trainer. Yes, his heroic deeds speak to us from inside the country where his seasoned products fought countless battles, each of which brought our Independence closer and closer. He was part of the ZIPRA High Command, part of national liberation struggle leadership. Today we pay homage to him for his outstanding service to his country.

As l look at Cde Chirenda lying still in that casket, I see much more than remains of a departed comrade. I see a feature of my country, a striking sentence in the overall story of my country. I see part of the pain which marked its birth. I see the scars it needed on the limbs of its determined children for it to come. Above all, I see the courage, the dedication that was needed to make a new history, indeed to birth a new, free people, to sire a new African country we now call Zimbabwe.

I cry.

I cry that this vital sentence which is and should be part of a national narrative is going to be buried away today: unread by those of us who live, unreadable to all those to follow. I am talking about Cde Chirenda’s great grand children who may never know or grasp the great work he did in his lifetime. I am talking about my own great grand children who may never know or remember him. I am talking about your great grand children, dear comrade, who may never know your history, our history and thus their history as well.

We have not written our story, we great but mute heroes. We have not narrated our experiences even to this generation that lives. Much worse, our experiences are buried away with us, rendered eternally mute, when we die, one at a time until we are all gone one day. Unless they spoke when they lived, dead comrades don’t tell stories. And our individual stories are a vital part of the story of our generation, of our people, our nation, our country. Who shall tell it? When? The veterans like Chirenda are going, are gone! Who shall testify to his greatness? While they tell us that history belongs to victors, our own situation cedes victory to those who lost the war. Our History has no tellers. We need to change history by writing it. Let’s begin now so we shape a heritage for our children, for generations to come who deserve to inherit and get inspired by the great deeds of their forebearers.

Beyond the human flesh, Cde Chirenda epitomised the values of the struggle which he never betrayed. Zimbabwe had to be free from colonial bondage. That is why he went to start a war. Zimbabwe had to be sovereign and secure. That is why he remained within the security structures of the nation until his retirement in 1995. Zimbabwe had to be defended for all times. That is why he remained active in national politics even after he retired from active duty. Zimbabwe’s resources had to come to her people. Again, that is why Cde Chirenda played his part in the land reform programme, indeed, why he supported the policy of empowerment. We all live for values, or should. This is how generations inspire one another, indeed how history is shaped, how national character and identity are forged. Today Harold leaves behind a rich set of values that guided his life in struggle and even beyond. Much more, he lives behind a free Zimbabwe which you and me must look after and defend its sovereignty is assured across generations and across time. Are we fit to be inheritors of such a Zimbabwe which the likes of Cde Chirenda shaped and moulded with their own blood?

Comrades and friends, we have announced our economic blueprint for the next five years. We call it Zim-Asset, which rests on essential pillars namely: Food Security and Nutrition; Social Services and Poverty Eradication; Infrastructure and Utilities and, Value Addition and Beneficiation. A key assumption of Zim-Asset is that Zimbabweans are both the motive force and resource that powers this whole programme. I call it “the none-but-ourselves” assumption, the “iwe neni tine basa”, the “mina lawe silo musebenzi” mantra we used in the Struggle. Zim-Asset is a call to you and me-to all of us as Zimbabweans – to put shoulder to wheel, sweat a bit, so we recover our economy and grow it for the prosperity of all our people. We promised we would indigenise the economy. We promised we would empower ourselves as Zimbabweans. We promised we would develop ourselves. Yes, we said we would create employment for ourselves. All that amounts to a call to work-honest work-so we prosper.

Recently, I met with a team of youngsters. They said: “Cde Vice President, you gave us Zim-Asset and we are happy. It covers good ground. But have you noticed that it leaves out two key areas which speak to the youth directly?” Defensively I retorted: “Which two areas?” Zim-Asset has gone through various stages of the Party and Government, and was debated thoroughly. Now you tell us it is inadequate?”The youngsters pleaded that I hear them out. Reluctantly I did. “Vice President, where is information technology, where is banking and financial services sector?” I stood back, pensive.

That conversation gave me hope. It suggested a generation that is actively engaging. A generation busy unpacking a national policy to see niches for itself. Yes, a generation ready to challenge a policy which seems inhospitable to its dreams.

We certainly must give thought to such feedback and see how Zim-Asset can be made elastic enough to accommodate these two key enablers, or any other areas viewed as crucial. Zim-Asset has to be living tissue. But the youngsters proved to me that Cde Chirenda’s dream of a free people taking full charge of their destiny is beginning to come true. NONE BUT OURSELVES! IWE NENI TINE BASA! Let these be our punch-lines as we move into the future.

To Cde Chirenda, I say: Go well. Go well, our great commander. Go well, our outstanding fighter for freedom. Go well our war veteran. Rest in peace, Son of the Soil. We will miss you.

I thank you.