Online Reporter
Raymond Jaravaza
Bulawayo Bureau
IN 1985, five years after the country attained its independence from British colonial rule, Cde Roma Nyathi bought a plot in Douglasdale on the outskirts of Bulawayo and found himself a neighbour to a man that he held in high esteem.
That man was one of the pioneer freedom fighters of the armed struggle in the 1960s.
That man was among a group of liberation war stalwarts who were sent for military training in the then Soviet Union by ZAPU and he was none other than the late former Vice President, Cde Report Phelekezela Mphoko.
“When I bought this property in 1985, I was surprised that my neighbour was Cde Mphoko, a man that I had so much respect for since the very first day that I met him in Zambia in 1967.
“He had bought his property a few years before I did and I counted myself one of the lucky few cadres who could call Cde Mphoko his neighbour,” Cde Nyathi told our Bulawayo Bureau at his home in Douglasdale yesterday afternoon.
From the verandah of his humble home, one can clearly see the Mphoko residence next door, a sprawling double storey.
“Before I was posted to Zambia in 1967, I had spent five years in the Soviet Union, but I never met Cde Mphoko while I was there, although he also spent time in the Soviet Union as well.
“My first impression when I met him in Zambia was that of a man who was confident of himself, an honest and hardworking man,” said Cde Nyathi.
In Zambia, former Vice President Cde Mphoko was part of the Military Command Structure in which he was deployed as the Chief of Logistics.
He served in the Command with Ackim Ndlovu who was the Commander, Abraham Nkiwane, Robson Manyika, Nyathi and a few others.
Cde Mphoko joined the armed struggle soon after being released from prison and was immediately sent for military training in the then Soviet Union in 1964 by ZAPU.
That crew had within its ranks the likes of national heroes Dumiso Dabengwa and Ackim Ndlovu. They were later joined by the likes of yet another national hero, the late Retired Colonel Tshinga Dube.
“I worked with Cde Mphoko in Zambia from 1967 to 1971 and I was later deployed to Mozambique. During the war, Cde Mphoko was responsible for our weapons that had been secured by the late Vice President Joshua Nkomo from Egypt, Ghana and the Soviet Union.
“He was also tasked with training the young army and if the camp ran out of ammunition, Cde Mphoko would take matters into his own hands, disappear and return to the camp with the much-needed ammunition,” said Cde Nyathi.
He said the rank and file were never told where the ammunition was sourced, but Cde Mphoko and his team were known to use all means possible to lay their hands on the ammunition.
“After the war, I worked in the Finance Ministry and Cde Mphoko was deployed to diplomatic missions and I got in touch with him again in 1985 when I bought this land and he became my neighbour,” said Cde Nyathi.
The two liberation struggle icons were close and Cde Mphoko invited his neighbour to his daughter’s wedding, which further cemented their friendship.
“I remember at one time he came to see me to find out how I managed to grow a thriving garlic plant.
“I had gained knowledge in growing what are called elephant garlic and I gladly shared that information with him,” said Cde Nyathi.
Cde Mphoko was born on June 11, 1940 at Gwizane, in Bubi District of Matabeleland North.
He attended David Livingstone Memorial School in Ntabazinduna and Mzilikazi High School in Bulawayo.
Between 1959 and 1960, he enrolled at the Tsholotsho Agricultural Breeding and Experimental School where he did cropping and animal husbandry.
After school, Cde Mphoko was employed by Dunlop Rhodesia Ltd between 1962-63 and was a workers’ representative in the moulding section.
In 1963, Cde Mphoko was arrested for political violence after lashing out at a Rhodesian police officer who had set his dog on him and fellow youths.
He was sentenced to three years in jail and sent to Khami Prison, before appealing against the sentence and was granted bail awaiting a retrial.
During the same year, 1963, he was a delegate at the Cold Comfort Farm People’s Caretaker Council Congress.
The congress created a Special Affairs Department and decided on an external wing of ZAPU that would plan and direct the armed struggle.
Under the Special Affairs programme, Cde Mphoko along with Albert Nxele, Walter Mbambo and Sam Dumaza Mpofu, were selected by ZAPU leader Cde Joshua Nkomo to go for military training.
On April 4, 1964, while awaiting a retrial, Cde Mphoko left Zimbabwe as part of a group of six and received military training in the Soviet Union between May 1964 and February 1965.
In March 1965, he created the first military command structure, the military planning committee, to plan and direct the armed struggle.
Cde Mphoko was one of the first seven commanders commissioned by the revolution and by the political leadership to recruit, train and command Zimbabweans into a revolution for the liberation of Zimbabwe.
In 1967, he became a member of the Joint Military Command in charge of logistics and supply in the ANC/ZAPU Alliance.
He commanded the Joint Military rehearsals for the Wankie operations at Dan Nang Base, Luthuli Camp, which included South African freedom fighters Cde Joe Modise and Cde Chris Hani who was the Commander of the Detachment, and others.
In 1967 and 1968, he operated in Sipolilo (now Guruve) together with Cdes Modise, Abraham Nkiwane, Dumiso Dabengwa and others.
In 1976, he was a delegate at the formation of the Patriotic Front, in Maputo, Mozambique, with Jason Ziyaphapha Moyo, George Silundika and Joseph Msika.
In 1977, Cde Mphoko attended the Organisatio of African Unity (OAU) Adhoc Committee of Foreign Ministers in Luanda Angola with the late Cdes Joseph Msika, and George Silundika.
In 1979, he attended the Lancaster House peace talks as a military delegate.
VP Mphoko was in 1980 appointed as a Special Envoy for Cde Nkomo to President Samora Machel of Mozambique, King Sobhuza II of Swaziland, Chief Leabuwa Jonathan of Lesotho, President Fidel Castro of Cuba, and Eric Honneker of the German Democratic Republic.
He served in the sub-committee that designed the Zimbabwean national flag.
In 1981, Cde Mphoko worked in the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare as Deputy Director for Demobilisation.
In 1987, he was transferred to the diplomatic service and, with junior stints in Mozambique as liaison officer and in 1996 appointed liaison officer to Austria, also covering the United Nations Drug Control Programme and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty Organisation.
Between 1996 and 1999, Cde Mphoko did advanced courses in semen collection, artificial insemination and embryo transfer at the Institute of Genetics, Austria.
In 2002, he was appointed Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Botswana, before becoming Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to the Russian Federation. In 2010, he was appointed Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to South Africa.
On December 10, 2014, he was appointed Vice President by the late former President Cde Robert Mugabe alongside Cde Mnangagwa, who is now President.
Cde Mugabe assigned Cde Mphoko the ministerial portfolio of National Healing, Peace and Reconciliation.
On July 6, 2015, he assigned Cde Mphoko the responsibility for coordination and implementation of policy.
Cde Mphoko died in India last Friday where he had gone to seek medical attention following a short illness.
His body is expected in the country today for burial at the National Heroes Acre.
President Mnangagwa declared the late former Vice President a National Hero.
Cde Mphoko is survived by his wife Laurinda, three children and three grandchildren.
