He used to call me at random and odd times; almost always late at night. The last time he did was at 11pm several weeks ago. He wanted to tell me he was in South Africa and was not well. This was the third call he had made to say he was ill. I had previously received another call, again well after 11pm, when I was in Kenya a couple of years back. We spoke for over an hour-and-half, him explaining his medical condition and this test and that. He was hopeful.
Dabengwa and my father Sidney Malunga, two PF Zapu stalwarts, were inseparable: both persecuted by former president Robert Mugabe’s regime; tried for treason, accused of being on an invented Zapu War Council, both acquitted, but kept detained illegally for almost four years, then released within weeks of each other and both standing shoulder-to-shoulder to bury their comrade Lookout Masuku — the Zipra commander — who had died in prison just before they were released.
I recall one such epic disagreement which only made better sense when I was older: when my father was tried for trying to overthrow the government, the state claimed that it had a star witness who would implicate him with no chance of escaping conviction. The prosecutor, Goodwills Masimirembwa, kept the identity of this witness secret.
When they were released from Chikurubi after Nkomo had cut a deal with Mugabe — the 1987 Unity Accord — there were tensions among them. Nkomo had done what he believed was in the best interest of the people and the party. Most importantly, the people. Too many people had died and continued to die, and he and his party could not protect them since they were not in government and had no means to do so. Mugabe seemed willing and ready to kill more. There was nothing to stop him until it was 20,000.
After the Unity Accord, Dabengwa had initially been offered the post of Deputy Minister of Home Affairs which Zapu had complained was too junior. He later became the minister. His role as Minister of Home Affairs would be the basis for another point of disagreement with his colleagues. Rural life had not only come to a standstill, but had regressed. Recall that the region had endured the wrath of the liberation war before that and barely recovered from that. After the Unity Accord, there had been little done to compensate for Matabeleland underdevelopment during the Gukurahundi years. There had been no mini-Marshall Plan.
Meanwhile, Mugabe maintained a tight grip on power. I recall having very uncomfortable separate conversations with the late vice-president Joseph Msika, the late vice-president John Nkomo, Mabhena and Dabengwa about what they considered their legacy to be.
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