Story by ZBC Reporter
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa is set to preside over the official launch of the memoirs of Professor Simbi Veke Mubako at Heritage Village, Liberation City in Harare on Wednesday.
Professor Mubako is one of Zimbabwe’s foremost intellectuals, whose service to the nation spans more than 50 years.
The memoirs throw a spotlight on Professor Mubako’s rich experiences in the creation of a sovereign nation-state.
The respected jurist and diplomat held key positions and played significant national and international roles throughout his career, including being one of the key framers of the Lancaster House Constitution that midwifed Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980.
Prof Mubako was Zimbabwe’s Minister of Justice at Independence, serving in the country’s first Cabinet alongside President Mnangagwa.
Titled “Zimbabwe at 45: The Struggle for Sovereign Autonomy and Prosperity”, the memoirs are published by the Institute of African Knowledge (INSTAK), a Pan-African think tank whose mandate includes African memory preservation and promotion.
Prof Mubako has been at the forefront of efforts to preserve and tell Africa’s own story through initiatives such as the Museum of African Liberation.
In “Zimbabwe at 45: The Struggle for Sovereign Autonomy and Prosperity”, he reflects on his life of service to Zimbabwe and Africa, weaving together personal experiences with the lived history of successive post-independence generations.
“I try to trace all the steps that we went through; from the time of the first Cabinet and time of the problems of dissidents and the times when we resolved the problems, and times when we had problems with the British on the land question, the succession issue as well and all the successes and programmes which have been launched by the Second Republic, all that has been discussed,” he said.
The forthright account does not shy away from delving into low points in Zimbabwe’s history, problematic questions of state, and areas of ideological contestation.
The publication of the memoirs and their launch by President Mnangagwa dovetail with the Second Republic’s prioritisation of heritage as a key component of nation-building and development.
