Harare — THE late Retired General Vitalis Musungwa Gava Zvinavashe, who passed away on March 10 2009 at Manyame Airbase Hospital in Harare, was on Wednesday declared a national hero.
He will be buried at the national shrine tomorow. Below is a full reproduction of the submissions made for the conferment of National Hero status to the late Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces....
- The Grand Commander of the Zimbabwe Order of Merit.
He is credited with efforts to institutionalise the Organisation of African Unity's (now African Union) Central Mechanism on Conflict Prevention, Resolution and Management as well as the Sadc Organ on Politics, Defence and Security.
The idea of the African Standby Force, which is now coming to fruition, gathered momentum after the meeting of African Chiefs of Defence Staff in Harare October 24-25 1997, which he chaired.
His relentless quest for regional peace and security is clearly demonstrated by his valuable contributions during the deliberations of the Sadc Organ's Interstate Defence and Security Committee and Interstate Politics and Diplomacy Committees.
As he assumed command of the ZNA in 1992, Zimbabwe responded to the United Nations' call for the deployment of military observers in Angola (UNAVEM II) and peacekeepers in Somalia (United Nations Mission in Somalia [UNOSOM])...
In 1998, he was instrumental in the deployment of Sadc Allied Forces in support of the Democratic Republic of Congo government in the face of invasion by Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi.....
................................
from TalkZimbabwe March 2008:
General Zvinavashe also criticised Zanu PF politburo member, Dumiso Dabengwa for jumping ship and joining Makoni.
............................................................
from SWRadioAfrica January 2008:
Former army general Vitalis Zvinavashe sent political temperatures soaring Monday after calling on Robert Mugabe to step down. A report on the Zimbabwe Times website quotes Zvinavashe saying; ‘By clinging on to power Mugabe was betraying the essence of the liberation struggle.’ Although the report does not say where the remarks were made our sources say Zvinavashe, a politburo member, addressed a meeting of constituents in Gutu on Monday.
Known for his controversial and blunt remarks Zvinavashe is also quoted as saying; ‘I may also want to be president one day, but if one clings onto power for too long how do you expect youngsters to be leaders of tomorrow?...
.............................
from ZWNews:
,,,...On the same day the MDC issued a condolence message at the death of a Zanu PF stalwart, speaking in very glowing terms about retired Army-General Zvinavashe. This was a man who used the war in the DRC to enrich himself and who publicly declared he would not salute Tsvangirai.
There are very mixed reactions about what all this unusual rhetoric means and if it is sincere. Some say the untimely death of the Prime Minister's wife may be the catalyst that will bring the divided country together. They believe that through her death, and that of General Zvinavashe, Zanu PF and the MDC may work together differently. But there are others who are extremely sceptical and say the sequence of events is very strange and seem too well orchestrated. The sceptics say it is delusional to think that Zanu PF has suddenly changed, after years of violence, torture, beatings and deliberately inflicted starvation.,,,
No comments:
Post a Comment