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Magura Charumbira

From George Maponga in Masvingo
Liberation hero Cde Magura Charumbira, who shot to national prominence for leading Zanu-PF youths to boo former First Lady Mrs Grace Mugabe at a rally in Bulawayo last year, was laid to rest on Sunday at his rural home at Magura village in Charumbira communal lands.

Cde Charumbira died last week in a car crash after a Mercedes Benz vehicle he was travelling in hit a stationary lorry along the Harare-Bulawayo Road.

He was 34.

Hundreds of mourners from all walks of life, including ruling party members from Bulawayo province and other parts of the country, thronged the Magura homestead to pay their last respects to Cde Charumbira, who was declared a liberation hero by the revolutionary party.

In their eulogies, most speakers described Cde Charumbira as a courageous and brave warrior who never shied away from defending what he believed was right.

Addressing mourners, Masvingo Minister of State for Provincial Affairs Senator Josaya Hungwe paid tribute to Cde Charumbira for working tirelessly to mobilise the electorate to vote for President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

‘’At the time of his death, Cde Charumbira was at the forefront of mobilising the electorate to vote for President Mnangagwa, who is the Zanu-PF presidential candidate in this year’s harmonised elections. The late Cde Charumbira was also in talks with some leading figures in the opposition MDC-T for them to rally behind President Mnangagwa in the coming elections,’’ said Senator Hungwe.

President Mnangagwa, Senator Hungwe said, had acceded to the request for Cde Charumbira to be accorded liberation hero status.

He also encouraged other youths to emulate the late Zanu-PF youth leader.

In his graveside speech, Zimbabwe Council of Chiefs president Chief Fortune Charumbira, who was Cde Charumbira’s cousin, described the late liberation hero as a courageous man who sacrificed life and limb to stop former First Lady Mrs Mugabe from continuing to attack and denigrate President Mnangagwa.

‘’He was a key member of the Lacoste (Zanu-PF faction that backed President Mnangagwa) faction, and I have no regrets about saying that he was a very active member of Lacoste and he mobilised people in the run up to the Bulawayo Youth Interface rally to boo the former First Lady, Mrs Mugabe,’’ he said.

“He (Cde Charumbira) said enough is enough, we cannot watch while the First Lady continues with her derogatory and uncultured language aimed at the then Vice President Mnangagwa, so he led youths in Bulawayo to say ‘stop it’ to the former First Lady,” said Chief Charumbira.

Cde Charumbira’s burial was attended by top Zanu-PF officials such as secretary for Youth Affairs Cde Pupurai Togarepi, his deputy Cde Lewis Matutu, Zanu-PF Masvingo provincial chairman Cde Ezra Chadzamira and Central Committee member Cde Clemence Makwarimba among others.