Former Zanu PF Politburo member and Midlands Resident Governor, Cephas Msipa, who succumbed to pneumonia on Monday morning has been declared a national liberation hero.
Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa confirmed the development saying the party unanimously agreed to accord the former statesman a hero’s stats.
“Msipa served this country, fought for its Independence and served Zanu PF. Even in his last days he spoke about our independence. For that he is a national hero,” Mnangagwa said.
Msipa died at West End after his health deteriorated during the weekend and speculation was rife that he would not be accorded the liberation hero’s status due to his recent antics which seemed to take aim President Robert Mugabe’s firm grip to power over the past 36 years.
However, despite being accorded a hero status, Msipa will be buried in Gweru, as he, before his death, expressed his zeal to be buried next to his wife.
Before his death, Msipa “advised ” President Mugabe to step down from office and allow a smooth transition of power by naming a successor.
Msipa, a former teacher, was born in 1931 in the mining town of Zvishavane, at Shabani Mine.
He taught at schools in Shabani, from 1953 to 1957. He was Headmaster for schools in Harare from 1959 to 1964.
During his teaching years he became interested in politics. At first Msipa was interested in the multi-racial Capricorn Africa Society and the CAP. He later joined the Advisory Board in Kwekwe and became its chairman. He also acted as the Midlands Province correspondent for the African Daily News. He later joined Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) in 1961.
Msipa was arrested in November 1965 and served with a two year detention order. Early in 1966 he walked out of the restriction area and was on the run from the police for 10 weeks before he was arrested and sent for indefinite detention at Gwelo ( now Gweru) Prison. He remained in detention until June 1970. While in detention he studied for an external degree with the University of South Africa and graduated with a Bachelors in Administration.
In 1971 he obtained work as a Public Relations Officer for a textile company.
Msipa was appointed the Secretary General of the ANC but his textile job made it impossible for him to actively participate and he resigned in 1972. He was later appointed the Secretary for Education in the ANC in September 1975. He was appointed a member of the ANC delegation to the constitutional conference in Salisbury (now Harare). In January 1976 he left Salisbury on a mission to brief the Governments of Ghana and Nigeria on the progress of the conference. He was announced as a member of the ANC delegation to the Geneva Conference in October 1976.
After Zimbabwe’s independence, Msipa worked in government first as deputy minister of Youth, Sport and Recreation, Manpower Planning and Development and later as minister of Water Resources and Development and lastly as Governor of the Midlands Province.
He retired from active politics in December 2014 when he decided not to contest for a central committee position.
Since his retirement from active politics Msipa commented on Zanu PF factionalism and Mugabe. In an interview with a local publication, Msipa spoke on the need for Mugabe to choose a successor,
“I am worried and Zimbabweans are worried, and without a proper succession plan, Mugabe’s departure presents a worrying scenario. Mugabe should be looking beyond his party because he is the so-called only center of power and can do what he wants. I would have him use that opportunity to now move and set out a clear succession plan,” he said at one time
Msipa went on to say that Mugabe could take a cue from the late Tanzanian founding leader, Julius Nyerere, who stepped down and allowed for a peaceful and orderly transition,
“I am not asking him to re-invent the wheel. There are examples all over, like Nyerere did in Tanzania. He needs to really think about it and understand that a peaceful transition will be the best thing he could bequeath to this country. Zimbabweans might actually forgive him for everything he is accused of having done in the past three-and-half decades,” added the now departed Msipa.
