The Sunday Mail
Tinashe Farawo
In March 2013, The Sunday Mail asked Brigadier-General (Retired) Felix Muchemwa how he would like the people of Zimbabwe to remember him. He paused and chuckled, before saying: “Maybe not to be remembered at all. Just to say he was a comrade who did his best for the country at the time … Other people made even bigger sacrifices and yes, the syringe to an extent was my gun.”
Described variably by colleagues as a soldier, a revolutionary, a doctor and an ideologue, the man who did not want to be remembered will today be interred at the National Heroes Acre in Harare with thousands in attendance. Rtd Brig-Gen Muchemwa died last Monday in Egypt, and on Friday President Mugabe told the family that one of the first medical doctors to join the liberation struggle had been declared a national hero.
At Dr Muchemwa’s funeral parade at One Commando Barracks in Harare yesterday, Defence Minister Dr Sydney Sekeramayi — who worked closely with the national hero during the Second Chimurenga, said: “Dr Muchemwa was a dedicated, honest and patriotic soldier who sacrificed a lot for the independence of the country.
‘‘It was not easy for him to leave the comfort of staying in Britain to join other compatriots in the bush. “I started communicating with Dr Muchemwa when he was in the UK and I was in Sweden. We were part of the party’s student representatives in Europe. We all felt that it was necessary for us to contribute to the Independence of our country, hence, we left the comfort we were enjoying in Europe to assist in the best way we could.
“There was a very high death rate in the camps due to war-related diseases and injuries. ‘‘Therefore, we established a mobile clinic to deal with the problem and together with Dr Muchemwa, we had a mobile theatre.
“We started from scratch to establish systems to assist the sick and injured. Due to his dedication, we moved from one camp to another, and I can tell you the man was courageous, honest and dedicated.” Born on April 22, 1945, Dr Muchemwa attended Nehanda and St Michael’s primary schools from 1953 to 1960.
He completed Ordinary Level at Kutama and then did Advanced Level at Fletcher High School. His political involvement began when he was 18-years-old when he became a member of Zanu’s Youth League in Highfield, Harare, then a hotbed of nationalist politics.
In 1965, he was arrested and sentenced to three years in prison with hard labour for demonstrating against Ian Smith’s Unilateral Declaration of Independence. Though the sentence was wholly suspended, he was restricted under conditions tantamount to imprisonment.
In 1968, he enrolled for a degree in Medicine at the then University of Rhodesia where he was elected chairman of the underground student movement responsible for co-ordinating activism in support of the liberation struggle. The following year, he was elected president of the Students Representative Council, and he was expelled and put under house arrest in 1970. He was restricted to St Michael’s in Mhondoro, banished from entering the then capital, Salisbury.
He pursued his studies at England’s Birmingham Medical School (1970-73), and was elected Zanu’s secretary for Birmingham branch. The national hero joined the liberation struggle in 1977, working alongside Dr Sekeramayi in Chimoio, Mozambique. He was deployed to Doroi Refugee Camp where dozens had been dying daily due to illness, injury and poor nutrition.
After the Chimoio attack, he was part of the team that treated the injured after surviving the massacre himself. He was attested into the Zimbabwe National Army on June 19, 1980 as a major and posted to 2 Medical Company as senior medical officer. He was promoted to colonel in 1981 and appointed the first black director of medical services in the Army.
He is credited with developing the Medical Directorate within a few years.
During the Mozambique campaign, he worked closely with the Commander’s Special Task Force and was promoted to Brigadier-General in 1986. He was appointed Health Minister in 1988 and was Special Advisor (Disabilities) to the President at the time of his death. The national hero is survived by his wife, three children and a grandchild.
