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“Bruno” Jo Msika, as he was affectionately known to many, was born Joseph Wilfred Musikavanhu to his father’s second wife in rural Mashonaland, (Central as it is now).
He was the first son in his family, and his father sent him to Howard Mission for his primary education.
His ambition from a very early age was to qualify as a teacher, and so at Mount Selinda School in Chipinga (now Chipinge) he trained as a teacher of carpentry and got his JCE by correspondence.
It is probably not well known that he was an accomplished footballer, and he was eventually selected for the National Football Team, after having excelled with Zimbabwe Saints (then known as Mashonaland United) and the Matabeleland (then Matabeleland) Regional Select team, at that time called the “Red Army”.
He had been working with a transport firm in Bulawayo, and then, when he obtained his certificate as a woodwork teacher at Usher Institute, from 1944 to 1949.
From 1950, when he joined companies in Bulawayo, till 1953, he showed his wide ability and eventually ended up as Administrative Officer for Consolidated Textiles (now National Blankets).
He became exposed to trade union politics as leader of the Textile and Allied Worker’s Union in 1954 and met like – minded persons in that movement, such as Sarjant Masotsha Ndlovu, Benjamin Burombo and the late VP, Joshua M.N Nkomo.
Cde Msika used his experience to help in the formation of the original ANC with Cde Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo, first in Bulawayo, then in Harari Township (Mbare, Mai Musodzi Hall), he himself becoming elected treasurer.
Banned in 1959, the ANC leadership was detained at Khami prison where he came to know many other detained Nationalists, such as Orton Chirwa from Nyasaland and Daudi Yamba from Northern Rhodesia. He was later transferred to Selukwe (Shurugwi) and Marandellas (Marondera).
It was during this period that he met a young African Zimbabwean teacher who had left his secure position in Ghana to pursue the total liberation of the black masses in Southern Rhodesia.
He was very surprised to be greeted by name at their first meeting, and the bond between President Robert G Mugabe and Cde Joseph W Msika was terminated only by the death of the latter.
Such was the lack of intelligence of the British-led authorities in the Federation, that, by their action of detaining prominent leaders of the freedom movement and putting them together, they reinforced the power and determination of otherwise separated leaders.
On his release in 1961, he was elected councillor for the NDP, a party that had been formed whilst he was incarcerated.
That party was likewise banned by the British led authorities, resulting in the formation of the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (Zapu) on 19 December, 1951, and Cde Msika was elected Secretary for Youth Affairs, at that time the most forward looking division of the Nationalist effort.
This was at a time when state of emergency laws prohibited 356 Africans – i.e. black people – from entering “African Reserves”, including their own homes, so Cde Msika had to meet members of his own family, including his Bechuanaland-born wife and their children at places, and at times, determined by the junior white commissioner.
His determination to liberate all the people of Zimbabwe, including the misled white people, stayed with him all his life, and the admiration of all free people of the Southern African Region was expressed at his funeral ceremonies.
He remained committed to Zapu despite the numerous setbacks the party had, both from the colonial authorities and the other parties in the liberation struggle.
He also remained an upright and dedicated family man, as illustrated in his 60th wedding anniversary celebration in Greendale, Harare.
He had no fear of HIV, being a devoted husband and father, and his wife, Maria, devoted to him.
Though he did not make much of it he also told his son, Max, to wait in line for allocation of a farm under the accelerated land reform programme spawned by the British refusal to honour their obligations under the Lancaster House Agreement.
He told his son, a medical doctor in the USA: “Don’t expect me to favour you, just because you’re my son and I’m Chairman of the Land Acquisition Committee.”
He had held so many important positions in government – at one time being Senior Minister of Local Government and Resettlement with nine Ministers responsible directly to him. The late Vice President Msika remained principled and God fearing right to the end.
May we all emulate his example and, on Heroes Day, rededicate ourselves to bring about the equality of mankind in Zimbabwe.