Maravi

(HERALD) Thabo Mbeki pays courtesy call on President

Thabo Mbeki pays courtesy call on President
Saturday, 28 April 2012 20:46
Sunday Mail Reporter

Former South African president Mr Thabo Mbeki yesterday paid a courtesy call on President Mugabe at State House during which the two discussed recent political developments in Zimbabwe and the situation in Sudan and South Sudan which are on the brink of war over a border dispute.

Mr Mbeki met the Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces behind closed doors for one-and-a-half hours before later officiating at a dinner to launch a fund-raising initiative for the University of Zimbabwe.

Speaking briefly to journalists after meeting President Mugabe, Mr Mbeki said: “It was just a courtesy call. I briefed him (President Mugabe) on what we are doing in Sudan and South Sudan and he also updated me on the constitution-making process here. We hadn’t had such a discussion for almost three years.”

He would not give more details on the meeting and also declined to comment on political developments in Zimbabwe, saying he was not in a position to give an accurate assessment.

Deputy Prime Minister Professor Arthur Mutambara and Zanu-PF national chairman Ambassador Simon Khaya-Moyo accompanied Mr Mbeki to State House.

The former South African leader proceeded to the University of Zimbabwe campus where he was guest of honour at a dinner to launch the fund-raising campaign under which US$70 million is being sought to revive operations at the country’s oldest university.

The fund-raising initiative is the brainchild of Prof Mutambara, himself a former student leader at the university. Several speakers, most of them prominent former students, were lined up to make presentations mainly focusing on the history of UZ since its inception in 1957.

Zimbabwe’s former ambassador to China, Cde Chris Mutsvangwa, was one of the speakers while other eminent Zimbabweans such as Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chair Justice Simpson Mtambanengwe and Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku were also expected to make presentations.

In his paper titled “University of Rhodesia Generation ’70s: Visionary Revolutionaries and Selfless Heroes”, Ambassador Mutsvangwa paid tribute to the heroic former students of the then University of Rhodesia who left the lecture rooms to offer their lives in the battlefields across Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Zambia.

“I was part of the group that left in July 1975, a few days after the independence of Mozambique. Willard aka Hapana Zororo was our leader. He was studying in the Faculty of Engineering. We had known each other since our days at the famed St Augustine’s School.

Ambassador John Mayowe aka Robert Mandebvu from the Faculty of Arts had helped (Zororo) Duri recruit our unit. Doctor Masimba Mwazva aka Mamvura was a third member. I was approached by Duri and lost no time in bringing in former Attorney-General Sobusa Gula Ndebele, both of us from the Faculty of Law,” recalled Ambassador Mutsvangwa.

Stanley Chigwedere, the late diplomat, co-ordinated our absconding from the University of Zimbabwe to Mozambique. He was assisted by Dr Thompson Tsodzo and later diplomat and war veteran George Mvenge. We all ended up at Zhunda Camp on the outskirts of Chimoio which had recently been a cantonment of the Portuguese colonial fascist army.”

Other University of Rhodesia students who soon joined them included Permanent Secretary Justin Mupamhanga aka Top Ten, Judge President George Chiweshe aka Arafat and the late Neville Dembetembe aka Malcolm X.

Ambassador Mutsvangwa said ss the war progressed, the University of Rhodesia would pour more of its students into the ranks of the fighting forces. “The biggest group was made of 16 cadets who included diplomats Crispen Mavodza and the late Arafat Jani. A full count still needs to be done to account for all.

“What the UZ war heroes left to Zimbabwe was a legacy of sacrifice that was blind to the promise, prospects and privilege that come with intellectual endowment and achievement. A liberation struggle is as much a physical effort of battlefield gallantry as it is an intellectual undertaking of the highest demand. With our academic background we played our role in sharpening the ideologically content of the freedom fighter,” said Ambassador Mutsvangwa.

Labels: ARTHUR MUTAMBARA, ROBERT MUGABE, THABO MBEKI

posted by MrK @ 4:11 PM