Mnangagwa Mourns Matemadanda as ‘Loyal Fighter and Diplomat’, Promises to Complete Mozambique Shrines Project

By Desire Tshuma

HARARE– President Emmerson D. Mnangagwa has mourned Ambassador Victor Matemadanda as a dedicated liberation fighter, soldier, and diplomat, pledging that the Second Republic will complete his push to rehabilitate the burial sites of Zimbabwean freedom fighters in Mozambique.

In a statement released today by the Office of the President and Cabinet, Mnangagwa said he received the news of Matemadanda’s death on Saturday night “with deep grief and sadness”. Matemadanda died while serving as Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Mozambique and the Kingdom of Eswatini.

Mnangagwa said Matemadanda’s involvement in the liberation struggle began in Zambia, where he left a relatively comfortable life among the Zimbabwean migrant community to join the fight against Rhodesian rule. He worked closely with the late Cde Patrick Kombayi to mobilise support for fighters and refugees in camps across Zambia and Mozambique, and later became directly involved in transporting war material in Scania trucks to operational forward points.

At independence, Matemadanda joined the Zimbabwe National Army, serving “with loyalty and utmost distinction”. After leaving the Army, he continued advocating for war veterans through the Veterans Association, which he helped lead. “His principled stance in defence of the interests of our war veterans… led to his repeated incarceration under the First Republic,” Mnangagwa said. As ZANU PF’s National Political Commissar, he brought “exceptional vibrancy” to the Party at a time it sought to move beyond the inertia of the First Republic.

To broaden his role, Mnangagwa redeployed Matemadanda as Ambassador to Mozambique and Eswatini. In Mozambique, he traversed provinces that housed wartime bases and lobbied for the rehabilitation of burial sites and shrines where countless Zimbabwean freedom fighters lie in mass graves.

“It is sad that he has been snatched away from us before completing this vast project which summoned all his attention and energies,” the President said. “Under my direction, the Second Republic will ensure these revered sites and shrines are rehabilitated and properly curated. This is the least we can do to honour our fallen heroes, and to pay lasting tribute to the late Cde Matemadanda.”

Mnangagwa, on behalf of ZANU PF, Government, his family and himself, conveyed “deepest, heartfelt condolences” to the Matemadanda family, especially to Amai Matemadanda and the children. “May they derive solace from the exceptional contribution which Ambassador Matemadanda made towards the freedom and development of his people whom he so deeply loved. Our Nation joins them and shares in their grief. May his dear soul rest in eternal peace.”