VICE-President Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday said the worst
was over concerning his health as he is making a tremendous recovery.
Addressing hundreds of people at a memorial service for
national heroine Cde Shuvai Mahofa at her home in Mpandawana growth point, VP
Mnangagwa paid tribute to Zimbabweans for their prayers, adding that only God
had the final word on the number of days one lives.
Cde Mahofa — who was the Masvingo Provincial Affairs
Minister —died at Makurira Memorial Hospital in August after battling health
problems for almost two years.
VP Mnangagwa said, “I only received news of her death when
I was in hospital in South Africa; I was recovering. President Mugabe confirmed
Senator Mahofa’s death when he visited me in hospital. I was not able to attend
her funeral because I was not fit but her passing on was a great loss. We were
very close.
“I only came back from hospital (in South Africa) on Friday
evening and found out that there was a memorial service. Before resting, I made
arrangements to be here today (yesterday). I am happy I managed to attend the
memorial service. I can now go home and rest.”
VP Mnangagwa went on, ‘‘After falling sick, the late
Senator Mahofa would phone me asking how I was feeling. There were some people
who were spreading false information, so she was checking on me. I am still
alive because the Lord has not called me yet. Thank you for your prayers.”
He promised to convey Masvingo gratitude to President
Mugabe for conferment of national heroine status on Cde Mahofa, and urged the
nation to follow the late minister’s example of preaching peace.
VP Mnangagwa lambasted Zanu-PF officials who sought to
hijack the party for selfish ends, and called for unity of purpose to ensure
victory in the 2018 harmonised elections.
Zanu-PF Politburo member Cde Josaya Hungwe described Cde
Mahofa as a daughter of the soil; while party provincial chair Cde Ezra
Chadzamira said the national heroine had been instrumental in implementation of
key projects like Tokwe-Mukorsi Dam and dualisation of the
Beitbridge-Harare-Chirundu Highway.
Gutu Central legislator Cde Lovemore Matuke assured
President Mugabe that the party would win all 26 House of Assembly seats in the
2018 polls, just as it did in the 2013 elections.
At the memorial service were the family of the deceased,
friends, traditional leaders, and Zanu-PF and Government officials.
Cde Mahofa was born in 1941 in Chivi and attended Chibi and
Morgenster mission schools, before attaining a Diploma in General Nursing in
1960.
She was active in early nationalist politics as a member of
the National Democratic Party before joining Zapu in 1960 and then Zanu in
1963.
A renowned war collaborator, Cde Mahofa worked with the
likes of national hero Dr Simon Mazorodze, and supplied freedom fighters with
clothes and medicines. She rose from being a councillor in the 1980s to become
an MP between 1985 and 2008.
Cde Mahofa served as Deputy Minister of Women’s Affairs
(1987-1992) and Deputy Minister of Gender and Youth Development (1998-2007).
She was elected Senator in 2013 before her appointment as
Minister of State for Masvingo Provincial Affairs in February 2015, a post she
occupied until her death. sunday mail
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