PRESIDENT MNANGAGWA cheated death thrice during his lifetime, including the infamous poisoning in Gwanda six years ago and escaping the death sentence on a technicality before independence.
Recounting his life experiences during his 81st birthday
celebrations at State House on Friday night, the President said he has endured
countless challenges in his life, but he has managed to overcome them because
of God’s grace.
The dinner was organised by First Lady Dr Auxillia
Mnangagwa and members of the First Family.
The most recent attempt on his life, President Mnangagwa
said, took place in 2017, when he was poisoned in Gwanda, Matabeleland South
province, at a ZANU PF rally, when he was still Vice President.
He said he only survived after he was swiftly airlifted to
Harare, via Gweru, before being whisked to South Africa while he was
unconscious.
In his address, the President chronicled his life, which he
said was characterised by hardships and sacrifice.
“My life history has not been an easy one,” he said.
“I joined UNIP (United National Independence Party) in
Zambia in 1959, when I was at college in Lusaka. So, they had broken away from
the ANC of Harry Nkumbula, that is, (Simon Mwanza) Kapwepwe and Kenneth Kaunda,
so they came to the college and recruited us.
“The blowing of a train that you know about was not the
first thing. My first arson was burning of a school, then I was expelled in
1959.”
He said as a UNIP youth cadre, he helped Zimbabwean
nationalists, such as Willie Musarurwa, who came to the party’s offices to make
photocopies of their documents since he was the only person among the youths
conversant in both Shona and Ndebele.
He then left UNIP to join ZAPU, before leaving for Tanganyika (now Tanzania), where
he met nationalists such as the late Herbert Chitepo and former President
Robert Mugabe.
The President later left for Egypt to undergo military
training. He said upon leaving for Egypt, he and 13 colleagues were jailed by
the authorities for siding with Zimbabwean nationalists, who were referred back
home as “rebels”, for deserting Dr Joshua Nkomo after a split in the liberation
movement around 1963.
The “rebels” were led by Ndabaningi Sithole and also
included Cde Mugabe and Cde Enos Nkala.
He said he was the only survivor among the 13 cadres he
operated with.
“During my time, (the) age of majority was 21; that is why
I survived (the death sentence) … my colleagues got hanged,” he said.
“I was the only survivor. I then spent 10 years at Khami
Prison in a dark room. God has been very kind with me.
“None of my colleagues, the 13 … we were together in Egypt
in 1962 and 1963… none survived.
“In China, when we trained, we were only five; no one else
is alive . . . my colleagues again were hanged here … I am the only survivor,
even members of the Crocodile Gang, I am the only survivor.
“I had a taste of death three times.
“First in Iringa (Tanzania), but that is a story for
another day; second, when I was captured and I got my 10 years (imprisonment)
because I was underage, I survived.
“The third one is very recent, in 2017, when I was poisoned
there. I am here because of this young man (Vice President Constantino)
Chiwenga.
“He and the First Lady were able to rush me to South
Africa, where I survived.
“They tell me how I travelled, but I don’t know.
“They tell me from Gwanda (we went to) Gweru (then) to
Harare; I was sleeping on Chiwenga’s lap while I was unconscious.
“So, I want my family to know that this young man saved me.
He took me to South Africa. It has been a challenging journey.”
VP Chiwenga said the President survived many adversities in
his life.
“The life of our ‘birthday boy’ is rich, eventful and, I
dare say, stalked by several near-misses.
“I will not depress him, or all of you gathered here by
recounting those dark moments and they are many — which threatened his life
“Suffice to say that the fact that we celebrate his 81st
birthday proves that a life of destiny and, what is more, whose living carries
with it the destiny of a people and a nation, gets sheltered by providence.
“Tonight, we thus celebrate God’s will and design, right
from that seemingly ordinary day when Emmerson Dambudzo left the womb of Mbuya
Mhurai, to be thrust into a life of foreign tyranny and occupation.”
President Mnangagwa also explained how he used two names —
Dambudzo and Emmerson — at home and at school, respectively.
He said he later abandoned the name “Dambudzo” for
“Emmerson” without his parents’ knowledge.
He got the name Emmerson from a book he read in a school
library.
“So, in the 40s, when we went to school, results would be
announced on a weekend and parents would come,” he continued.
“So, class teachers would announce results class by class.
“At home, I was called Dambudzo, but at school I was
Emmerson, because I had never told my parents that I had changed (my name).
“So, the teacher said ‘Emmerson, you did well in English
and Arithmetic, stand up’, while pointing at me.
But I could not stand up because I was sitting with my
mother.
“When I then stood up, my mother said: ‘Hezvo! Hezvo! Ko
wava kunzi ani?’”
He had his audience in stitches when he told them that the dinner came as a huge surprise as he had anticipated a low-key and brief gathering of family members, only to see the grand arrival of his Vice Presidents, Cabinet Ministers, the First Lady, friends and relatives. Sunday Mail
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