ZIMBABWE’S Ambassador to Mozambique and Retired Lieutenant-General (Retired) Cde Douglas Nyikayaramba, who succumbed to Covid-19 complications on Tuesday has been declared a national hero.
Ambassador Nyikayaramba, who passed on at St Anne’s
Hospital, and was described by President Mnangagwa, in his condolence message,
as “a strong revolutionary cadre who continued to serve his country after
independence with “utmost loyalty, dedication and commitment” will be buried at
a date yet to be advised.
He was 60.
Defence and War Veterans Affairs Minister Oppah
Muchinguri-Kashiri, who is also Zanu-PF national chairperson, was dispatched to
the Nyikayaramba family home in Nyambira, Mashonaland West yesterday evening by
President Mnangagwa to deliver the special message.
Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri said President Mnangagwa and the
party saw it fit to honour Cde Nyikayaramba as a national hero for the
contributions he made during the liberation struggle and after independence.
“The party led by the President looked at the illustrious
journey he travelled which it feels young people should emulate. It was
therefore unanimously felt that he deserved the highest honour, that of
national hero, so I have to convey the message that the President saw it
befitting to declare him as national hero,” said Minister Muchinguri.
She chronicled the road travelled by Amb Nyikayaramba from
the time he left school to join the liberation struggle and the role he played
after the liberation struggle. She said Ambassador Nyikayaramba was appointed
to represent Zimbabwe in Mozambique because of his knowledge of critical
national issues.
“He was a decorated soldier who defended the country’s
interests hence the President and the party felt he deserves the highest
honour,” said Minister Muchinguri.
She added that there is need for the country to be wary of
both traditional threats and non-traditional threats that include
neo-colonialism and climate-induced cyclones that have emerged in recent years.
“We now have new threats such as Covid-19 which we need to
be wary of. While we are happy that the number of the infections are going down
we cannot be complacent,” Minister Muchinguri said.
Family spokesperson Mr Frazer Zvina Nyikayaramba said the
family had been honoured by the decision to grant their son the highest honour
bestowed on the country’s luminaries.
“We are happy with the honour bestowed on my younger
brother. We humbly request that you convey our gratitude to President
Mnangagwa,” said Frazer, who is elder brother to the late national hero. He
described his brother as a unifier in the family.
On the other hand, the late Lieutenant-General’s (Rtd) son Kelvin described his father as someone who was ever determined to satisfy the needs of every family member. A devout member of the Johane Masowe Apostolic church, Cde Nyikayaramba was described by his fellow church members as a down-to-earth-man.
A member of the church Mebiloshenzi Chipango said
Ambassador Nyikayaramba was a humble man who never threw his weight around even
as an army general. “He would sit down just like everyone else. You would never
know that he had that high rank in the army, “ he said.
The late, Cde Nyikayaramba, whose nom de guerre, during the
armed liberation struggle was Blessing Muhondo was born on 09 January 1960 in
Mutoko District, Mashonaland East Province in a family of eleven.
He did his primary education at Kowo Primary School before
proceeding for secondary education at Nyamuzuwe High School in Mutoko District
in 1974. He later wrote O-levels at Malbourough High School. Ambassador
Nyikayaramba grew up in a village environment where all the injustices of the
colonial regime were manifested and that made him conscious of the political
injustices prevalent during those times.
In the face of such injustices which made life unbearable,
the late General became an active youth in the Nehanda Sector and was
instrumental in organising clothing and cash from students at Nyamuzuwe High
School for the comrades who were operating in the area. He later joined the
liberation struggle in Nyamuzuwe in 1977, and trained in Mozambique at Tembwe
Base Two.
On completion he was appointed Company Political Commissar.
He later went for further training in Tanzania. Ambassador Nyikayaramba leaves
behind a wife Elina, nine children and nine grandchildren. Herald
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