The Sunday Mail
Mutare Bureau
FORMER Mutare Mayor, Alderman Lawrence Dambudzo Mudehwe who died on Wednesday, has been declared a provincial hero and will be buried today at Manicaland Provincial Heroes’ Acre in Mutare.
He died aged 89 after a long illness.
Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa delivered the message on conferment of hero status to the Mudehwe family at their Sakubva home yesterday.
“Alderman Mudehwe has been declared a provincial hero in recognition of his service to Mutare and the country. He was a dedicated son of the soil who had the people and country at heart judging by how he left his beloved job at the height of the war and started assisting liberation war heroes with supplies.
“The void that he left is unfillable but I hope the Mudehwe family will continue his legacy. He dedicated his life to Mutare City because he wanted to see the black child enjoying development of this nation,” she said.
ZANU PF Secretary for Information and Publicity Ambassador Christopher Mutsvangwa described Alderman Mudehwe as a sincere cadre who was always there when needed during and after the war.
“As the deadliest episodes of the war were being fought in Manicaland, he welcomed us all and helped us cross to Mozambique. The people of Manicaland through the leadership of Alderman Mudehwe helped so much in liberating this country. He was a loved man and deserves the status accorded on him.”
Speaking on behalf of the family, Alderman Mudehwe’ son, Mr Maxwell Mudehwe said his father had the country at heart.
“He was a man who unified our family. He had long-running stomach problems and doctors conducted an operation on him on Saturday, but he failed to recover. He had been having stomach problems since 2019 and we had been taking him to specialists,” he said.
Alderman Mudehwe joined politics when he quit his job as a librarian in Sakubva during the height of the war and went back home in Marange, where he was appointed Food Master, responsible for sourcing and organising food for freedom fighters.
After Independence, he was appointed Sakubva Superintendent and was a councillor from 1984 to 1995. He was appointed first black executive Mayor of Mutare in 1995, serving until 2003.
He is survived by wife Emma, seven children, 20 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren.
