WHEN he used to share a bed with President Mnangagwa back in time, Cde Sylas Takawira Mashupiko Masawi never dreamt that one day he would be a guest at State House meeting his old pal, who is now the country’s first citizen.
Yesterday, was therefore an emotional day for the
83-year-old man who now stays in Mazowe and has had a fulfilling life.
Like his old friend the President, Cde Masawi was arrested
during the country’s liberation struggle days but before that, the two were
bosom buddies.
“I stayed with the sitting President Emmerson Dambudzo
Mnangagwa in Highfield at his uncle Michael Mawema’s house, which was located
opposite Mtanga Night Club. We used to cook together on the two-plate paraffin
stove. We used the same room and same bed.
“I met Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa soon after he came from
China where he was trained. Michael Mawema left the house for us. We were the
only two people who were given the house by Michael Mawema,” said Cde Masawi.
When the former comrades met at State House yesterday, they
shook hands and behind closed doors reminisced on the paths that destiny has
chosen for them.
Speaking after the closed door meeting, an emotional Cde
Masawi said he needed some time to savour the reunion before he could delve
into the past when he used to share a bed with the man who rose to become
President.
Turning the hands of time to January 1965, Cde Masawi said
President Mnangagwa was arrested by police inspectors at Michael Mawema’s house
in Highfield in connection with blowing up a train in the then Fort Victoria
now Masvingo.
“His Excellency who is now the President of the Second
Republic became the first one to be imprisoned and soon after that, I was also
captured. This was the time we were separated because we were placed in
different prisons,” he said.
A veteran nationalist, Cde Masawi was locked up between
1973 and 1978 and again in 1978, he was picked up only to be released after
independence in 1980. Afterwards, he became a teacher.
The two comrades-in-arms continued to communicate, with Cde
Masawi in 2002 knocking on the then Minister’s door for assistance in the
construction of a school.
“In 2002, I went to meet my friend Emmerson and made a
request for assistance to build a secondary school I had initiated (Shutu
Adventist Secondary School). I was assisted in the construction of the
secondary school. The school is there and complete now,” he said.
When the Second Republic was born in 2017, Cde Masawi
supported its birth and today he is playing his part in the development of the
country through agriculture. Herald
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