President Emmerson Mnangagwa has declared the late Ambassador Victor Matemadanda a national hero, describing him as a dedicated liberation war veteran, politician and diplomat who made immense contributions to Zimbabwe’s freedom and development.
The declaration was conveyed to the Matemadanda family by Politburo member Cde Simbarashe Mumbengegwi yesterday night.
Ambassador Matemadanda, who was serving as Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Mozambique and the Kingdom of Eswatini, died on Saturday at the age of 66.
In his condolence message, President Mnangagwa said he received news of the veteran politician’s passing with deep sorrow, highlighting his long association with nationalist politics and the liberation struggle.
“I learnt with deep grief and sadness of the untimely demise on Saturday night of Cde Victor Matemadanda, Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to the sister Republics of Mozambique and Eswatini,” said President Mnangagwa.
The President said Cde Matemadanda’s involvement in the struggle dated back to his youth when he lived in Zambia as part of the Zimbabwean migrant community that had fled colonial oppression in Rhodesia.
According to the President, Ambassador Matemadanda left the relative stability of migrant life to actively support the liberation movement. He initially assisted in mobilising support for freedom fighters and refugees in camps located in Zambia and Mozambique before becoming directly involved in transporting war materials to operational zones.
President Mnangagwa said that after Independence in 1980, Cde Matemadanda joined the Zimbabwe National Army where he served with distinction before dedicating himself to advancing the welfare of liberation war veterans.
“At Independence, Cde Matemadanda would join the Zimbabwe National Army, in which role he served his country with loyalty and utmost distinction,” he said.
The President also noted that Cde Matemadanda played a significant role in advocating for war veterans and later served as ZANU PF National Political Commissar, where he brought renewed energy to the ruling party.
President Mnangagwa said he later appointed him Ambassador to Mozambique and Eswatini, where he distinguished himself by working to preserve Zimbabwe’s liberation heritage through the rehabilitation of wartime burial sites and shrines in Mozambique.
“He distinguished himself in that role, traversing all the provinces in Mozambique which housed our wartime bases, and in which remains of countless Zimbabwean freedom fighters lie buried in mass graves,” he said.
The President extended his condolences to the Matemadanda family and pledged that Government would continue efforts to rehabilitate liberation war shrines.
Family spokesperson and eldest son, Terrence Matemadanda, said the family was devastated by the sudden loss.
“We are at a loss for words as a family because it happened suddenly, it is not something we expected or saw coming,” he said.
