Lincoln Towindo
President Mugabe has described the late veteri­nary expert, Dr Stuart Hargreaves, as a hard­working and committed public servant who gave his life to liberating and uplifting the peo­ple of Zimbabwe through his work.

The Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces said this during a memorial service for Dr Hargreaves in Harare yester­day.

The livestock specialist was the director of veteri­nary services in the Ministry of Agricul­ture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Develop­ment.
“Dr Hargreaves’ humble nature, his voice of reason and great respect for authority made him a pleasure to work with, even under situa­tions of extreme pressure and limited resources,” said President Mugabe.

“He answered the call to national duty at all times. His contribution to the agriculture sec­tor in general, and to livestock develop­ment in particular, was immeasurable.
“Where there was a threat of animal dis­eases, Dr Hargreaves was quick to give advice on how to contain and eventually eliminate that potential problem.
“That is why in our small way as Govern­ment, as a party and as the people of Zim­babwe, declared Dr Hargreaves a liberation war hero who liberated us in so many ways — from hunger, ignorance, poverty, racism and also to raise us in status as a nation.”

The President said Dr Hargreaves distin­guished himself by choosing to remain in the civil service soon after independence at a time his white peers were leaving in droves.
This, he said, demonstrated his excep­tional commitment to serving the people.
“Dr Hargreaves undertook a series of inter­naational consultancies that benefited many countries in the region and beyond.

“He played a prominent role in our sub-region, that is Sadc veterinary programmes and was highly respected for the love and dedica­tion with which he carried out his work.
“Dr Hargreaves flew the Zimbabwe flag high by clearly declaring that he was a sur­geon from Zimbabwe. He also argued for clear measures that would not deny less-resourced nations from trading in meat products in the lucrative mar­kets of Europe, Asia and North America.

“Dr Hargreaves distinguished himself by remaining in the public service at the most crit­ical moment for our country.
“Notwithstanding my call for reconcilia­tion after the attainment of our hard-won inde­pendence, most white veterinary sur­geons left the public service.
“It was at that time that Dr Hargreaves exhibited his rare qualities of seeing beyond race, colour, creed or religion.”

Acting Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irri­gation Development Minister Dr Ignatius Chombo also praised Dr Harg­reaves for his diligence.
“Due to his fervent team spirit and hard work, many reforms in the livestock sector were smoothly carried out,” said Dr Chombo.

Dr Hargreaves joined the public service in 1971 after attaining a degree in veterinary medicine at Onderstepoort Veterinary Col­lege in South Africa.
He served the Government department of livestock and veterinary services for 41 years.
He died two weeks ago after a long battle with kidney cancer.