Online Reporter
Freeman Razemba
Senior Reporter
THE body of former Vice President Phelekezela Report Mphoko, who died in India on Friday, is being repatriated this week, with Zimbabwean and Indian authorities making the arrangements.
Cde Mphoko (84) has been declared a national hero in recognition of his service to Zimbabwe before and after Independence. He had been unwell for a long time.
In an interview, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Professor Amon Murwira said arrangements were in progress for the repatriation.
“As the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we are working with Indian authorities to make sure that the remains are respectfully repatriated back home,” he said.
Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Permanent Secretary Ambassador Raphael Faranisi said there were formalities involved, but the processes were underway.
The body is expected in Harare this week.
He said internally, the ministry will be doing all the preparatory processes for burial and once everything was settled, the details would be made public.
Last Friday, President Mnangagwa described Cde Mphoko as a veteran of the liberation struggle who selflessly contributed to national development.
Cde Mphoko’s appointment as Vice President of Zimbabwe in 2014 was “both deserved and consistent with his sacrifice and long service to his people, who today grieve and mourn his untimely departure,” said the President.
Meanwhile, tributes continued to pour in over the weekend.
Vice President Kembo Mohadi described Cde Mphoko as a true patriot and a tireless worker for Zimbabwe.
In a statement through Dr Clever Chirume, the Chief of Staff in his office, VP Mohadi said: “We received the news of the passing on of Cde Mphoko with shock and sadness.”
VP Mohadi said he worked closely with former VP Mphoko “both during the liberation struggle and after the struggle”.
He praised his active role in Zanu PF’s decisive victory in the 2023 harmonised elections, underscoring his unqualified support at campaign rallies.
“The former VP Mphoko never missed a single rally addressed by His Excellency, President Dr Emmerson Mnangagwa. Despite the schedule for the rallies being hectic, Cde Mphoko was always there with everyone to see to it that the party succeeded. We say lala kahle qhawe la maqhawe.”
Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to the Russian Federation, Brigadier-General (Retired) Ambrose Mutinhiri, described Cde Mphoko’s death as a monumental loss.
“He was a very dedicated patriot. I worked with him from the early 1960s until he rose to be Vice President. He always put the country first. His passing on is a great loss to the country.”
Zanu PF Secretary-General Dr Obert Mpofu reflected on Cde Mphoko’s sacrifices and leadership during the liberation struggle and beyond. He described the late former Vice President as a devout Seventh Day Adventist, who expressed the love of his country and people through taking photographs, a hobby he enjoyed since the liberation struggle.
In a statement, former Minister in Cde Mphoko’s office, Mrs Tabetha Kanengoni-Malinga, said: “It is with profound sadness and a deep sense of loss that I learned of the untimely passing of the late former Vice President, Phelekezela Mphoko.
“I had the distinct honour of serving as Minister of State in his office, a role through which I came to know him not only as a visionary leader but also as a compassionate and principled man who dedicated much of his life to liberating Zimbabwe from colonial rule.
“During my time working closely with Vice President Mphoko, I was profoundly moved by his tireless efforts to address the pressing needs of our people. He worked relentlessly to promote national peace, reconciliation and equitable development.”
Cde Mphoko was born on June 11, 1940 at Gwizane, in Bubi District of Matabeleland North.
He attended David Livingstone Memorial School in Ntabazinduna and Mzilikazi High School in Bulawayo.
Between 1959 and 1960, he enrolled at the Tsholotsho Agricultural Breeding and Experimental School where he studied cropping and animal husbandry.
After school, Cde Mphoko was employed by Dunlop Rhodesia Ltd between 1962 and 1963 and was a workers’ representative in the moulding section.
In 1963, Cde Mphoko was arrested for political violence after lashing out at a Rhodesian police officer who had set his dog on him and fellow youths. He was sentenced to three years in jail and sent to Khami Prison, before appealing against the sentence and was granted bail awaiting a retrial.
In the same year, 1963, he was a delegate at the congress of the People’s Caretaker Council held at Cold Comfort Farm.
The congress created a special affairs department and decided to set up an external wing of ZAPU that would plan and direct the armed struggle.
Under the special affairs programme, Cde Mphoko along with Albert Nxele, Walter Mbambo and Sam Dumaza Mpofu, were selected by ZAPU leader Cde Joshua Nkomo to go for military training.
On April 4, 1964, while awaiting a retrial, Cde Mphoko left Zimbabwe as part of a group of six and received military training in the Soviet Union between May 1964 and February 1965.
In March 1965, he created the first military command structure, the military planning committee, to plan and direct the armed struggle.
Cde Mphoko was one of the first seven commanders commissioned by the revolution and by the political leadership to recruit, train and command Zimbabweans into a revolution for the liberation of Zimbabwe.
In 1967, he became a member of the Joint Military Command in charge of logistics and supply in the ANC-ZAPU Alliance.
He commanded the Joint Military rehearsals for the Wankie operations at Dan Nang base, Luthuli Camp, which included South African freedom fighters Joe Modise and Chris Hani (who are both late) who was detachment commander, and others.
In 1967 and 1968, he operated in Sipolilo (now Guruve) together with Modise, Abraham Nkiwane, Dumiso Dabengwa and others.
In 1976, he was a delegate at the formation of the Patriotic Front, in Maputo, Mozambique, with JZ Moyo, George Silundika and Joseph Msika from Zapu.
In 1977, Cde Mphoko attended the OAU Adhoc Committee of Foreign Ministers in Luanda Angola with Cde Joseph Msika and Cde George Silundika.
In 1979, he attended the Lancaster House peace talks as a military delegate.
VP Mphoko was in 1980 appointed as a special envoy for Dr Joshua Nkomo, to President Samora Machel of Mozambique, King Sobhuza II of Swaziland, Chief Leabuwa Jonathan of Lesotho, President Fidel Castro of Cuba, and Eric Honneker of the German Democratic Republic.
He served on the sub-committee that designed Zimbabwe national flag.
In 1981, Cde Mphoko worked in the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare as deputy director for demobilisation. In 1987, he was transferred to the diplomatic service with junior stints in Mozambique as liaison officer. In 1996 he was appointed liaison officer to Austria, also covering the United Nations Drug Control Programme and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty Organisation.
Between 1996 and 1999, VP Mphoko did advanced courses in semen collection, artificial insemination and embryo transfer at the Institute of Genetics, Austria.
In 2002, he was appointed Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Botswana, before becoming Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to the Russian Federation. In 2010, he was appointed Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to South Africa.
On December 10, 2014, he was appointed Vice President by the late former President Mugabe alongside Cde Mnangagwa, who is now President.
President Mugabe assigned Cde Mphoko the ministerial portfolio of National Healing, Peace and Reconciliation.
He was sworn in as Vice President on December 12, 2014. On July 6, 2015, Cde Mphoko was assigned the responsibility for coordination and implementation of policy.
He ceased to be Vice President in November 2017 when the Second Republic was ushered into power.
Cde Mphoko is survived by his wife Laurinda, a Mozambican, and they had three children together, daughters Sikhumbuzo and Siduduzo and son, Siqokoqela. He also had three grandchildren.
