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Nduduzo Tshuma, Political Editor
CDE Naison Khutshwekhaya Ndlovu who died on Monday and was declared a national hero yesterday will be remembered for many things from being the first black mayor of Bulawayo to being a selfless leader but to many the legacy of the 1987 Unity Accord cannot be discussed without his mention.

Cde Ndlovu, a Zanu-PF Central Committee member, former Politburo member and Deputy Senate President died at the age of 86 in Bulawayo after a long battle with prostate cancer.

In an abridged biography titled NK@85 The Story of Naison Khutshwekhaya Ndlovu by historian Mr Pathisa Nyathi prepared ahead of his 85th birthday celebrations in 2015, the former Insiza legislator revealed that he accompanied Dr Nkomo when he met President Mugabe for the first time.

He reveals that Dr Nkomo visited him at his Luveve home where he told him of the need to unite and restore order in the country and ending post Independence political disturbances and civil strife in the country

“That visit to Ndlovu took place on 16 July 1987. The following day Nkomo and Ndlovu drove up to Harare in the former’s car. Contact had already been made with State President Canaan Banana in whose office they met.

“On that day a meeting was convened between President Banana, Prime Minister Mugabe and Zapu leader Nkomo,” writes Mr Nyathi.

“Ndlovu did not participate in the talks. Following that initial contact it was agreed two committees from the two parties would be set up to undertake negotiations aimed at the merger of the two parties. “

The committee on the Zapu side, Cde Ndlovu told Mr Nyathi, comprised himself, the then PF Zapu Vice President Cde Joseph Msika who was later appointed Vice President of the country following the death of Dr Nkomo and the late John Nkomo who succeeded Cde Msika.

On the Zanu side, reflected Cde Ndlovu, there was Maurice Nyagumbo as well as Ernest Kadungure among those constituting the Zanu-PF team while Cde Willard Chiwewe was the secretary to the negotiations.

Cde Ndlovu was the only surviving member, on the PF Zapu side, of the initial team tasked to unite Zanu and PF Zapu following the death of Cde Cephas Msipa.

Cde Ndlovu, at the signing of the Unity Accord on 22 December 1987, was the chairperson of PF Zapu and chaired the last party conference at the City Sports Centre in Harare in the same year.

The involvement of Cde Ndlovu in the unity talks was also corroborated by Cde Msipa in an interview with this paper in 2010 as he narrated how he was approached by Banana to bring Zanu and PF Zapu leaders together and started the process that led to the signing of the Unity Accord.

Cde Msipa recollected that after engaging Cde Nkomo, in a process that was never publicised, he was directed to also consult Cdes Ndlovu, Msika, Sydney Malunga and Welshman Mabhena.

After Cde Msipa died, Cde Ndlovu said of his efforts, “Cde Msipa’s role was behind the scenes as a person who had a gift of approaching even those perceived to be unapproachable, soften the ground and then other people would enter.

“When it came to the actual negotiations and committees were set up by the two parties and the whole process made public, Cde Msipa had done his job behind the scenes.”

It is in the foregoing that Cde Ndlovu’s legacy is hinged on being part of the successful efforts to bring together PF-Zapu and Zanu into signing the Unity Accord which brought peace and unity in the country.

Outside the Unity Accord, Cde Ndlovu made history by being the first black Bulawayo Mayor where he was clear on the outset that he would work towards the interest of the black masses who had been disadvantaged during the colonial era.

“I make no apology for that emphasis on the common man. It is on his behalf that we have been called upon to serve. We are aware of the needs and problems which face our citizens and we shall address ourselves to these needs,” he was quoted in the Chronicle of August 6, 1981.

Mr Nyathi adds, “His background both in Bura and the African Townships Advisory Board worked in his favour. He was elected a councillor and subsequently mayor, replacing the last white mayor Councillor Mike Constandinos. At the time he assumed the mayoral mantle applicants on the housing waiting list had to wait two years before getting a house.

“Ndlovu argued that this was unfair on the part of those that had been waging the armed liberation struggle from outside the country. In order to accommodate such individuals, it was decided they qualified immediately to get a house. Further, Ndlovu made sure the former combatants got jobs within the Bulawayo Municipality. Indeed, many of them got jobs in the various municipal departments.”

The historian also records that 12 days after release from WhaWha, Ndlovu went to Zambia to be part of the armed liberation struggle.

“Ndlovu arrived in Lusaka, Zambia, before the death by a letter bomb sent from Francistown of Jason Ziyapapa Moyo, then leader of Zapu’s external wing. JZ Moyo had actually visited Ndlovu where he stayed to get a briefing on political events back home. Following Moyo’s death, Joshua Nkomo and other nationalists went to join the armed liberation struggle in Zambia. Among those nationalists were Amon Jirira and Chief Jonathan Mangwende.

“In Zambia Ndlovu ran a vegetable-growing enterprise whose produce fed the cadres in camps such as Victory Camp(VC), Workers’ Camp, Nampundwe Transit Camp and Freedom Camp(FC). Ndlovu was in charge of buildings and the general welfare of the refugees and cadres undergoing military training. He lived at Makeni. In 1978 the Smith regime’s military forces attacked the camps in Zambia; it was Ndlovu’s responsibility to visit the camps and assess the needs of surviving cadres and interred the remains of casualties. He also visited the camps in Angola where the Rhodesians had also staged military attacks.”

Mr Nyathi also traces Cde Ndlovu’s passion for athletics and his involvement in the Bulawayo African Football Association.

“Soccer was one of the favourite sporting disciplines available to Africans, in addition to netball, athletics, boxing and cycling. In the early days there was no national soccer league to take care of soccer. In Bulawayo there was the Bulawayo African Football Association (Bafa) whose offices were where the Barbourfields Stadium stands today.

“In those days there were soccer teams such as Matabeleland Highlanders Football Club (now Highlanders Football Club) and Mashonaland United Football Club (now Zimbabwe Saints Football Club). Ndlovu served on the Bafa board at the time when WT Ngwenya was its president and NJ Mabodoko its chairman. Other board members at the time were Benjamin Dube, JZ Ndemera, Reuben Zemura and Cleto Zharare,” writes Mr Nyathi.