By Jacob Mafume
Mayor of the city of Harare

The story of the democratic struggle when it’s written ,will have your name deeply engraved in most of its pages.

It’s not easy , it’s a story of service ,sacrifice and loss .

You lose more than you gain.You learn to accept the indiscriminate unfairness of an African body politic.

In terms of blows this is a hard one, I have tears in my heart .We tried all we could to protect and shield you from the arrows from cdes.

In more cases you cared about where I was more than where you were .You would be more upset and less accepting than I was on things done to me .Any slight ,was enough for a summons to ” Maruva”.

A proverb would begin the discussion .

A plan of action would be cemented by another proveb. Failure was never an option .The hearty laugh was permanent in happiness and in sorrow .

Murambwi–the anecdotes would roll out of the tongue after a few sips of the waters of wisdom.

A person was described with an encounter to illustrate the point.

Once agreed we moved ,no retreat no surrender. A solid pillar of the struggle .Some seek to be the “brides”of the struggle at all the times, you were content to be the “bridesmaid”.

An MP , a Deputy Minister and a Senator at the end , few can have such a CV.It was an honour to call you a friend, a brother and a comrade .

It was always enriching to sit around a fire and trade war stories and show each other the scars of the struggle .I am richer for having known you …

Rest well Huchi ..Murambwi .