Story by Peter Chivhima
THE late national hero Colonel (Rtd) Kenny Ridzai Mabuya has been described as a military strategist and intelligence supremo who contributed immensely to the establishment of intelligence services in the country.
Colleagues and government officials visited the Mabuya family in Tynwald, Harare, this Sunday to pay their condolences after the passing on of Colonel (Rtd) Mabuya on the 22nd of this month.
A colleague who worked closely with the late national hero, Brigadier General (Rtd) Richard Chinengundu described him as a military strategist and intelligence supremo.
“Cde Mabuya played a pivotal role in the establishment of the military corp in our country. We can also not talk of the country’s intelligence services without mentioning the name of the late Colonel Retired Kenny Ridzai Mabuya. During the establishment of the security and intelligence services, we can say he was on number four. We have lost a man who was so committed to see that this nation is protected from all the internal and external forces. I remember very well he protected the former President from assassination.”
Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Minister Ambassador Christopher Mutsvangwa who led a delegation from the Ministry in consoling the Mabuya family, described Colonel Retired Mabuya as a brave man, whose role in the liberation struggle will forever be cherished.
“It’s the highest honour bestowed on Colonel Retired Mabuya. From the briefing, I heard that Colonel Retired Mabuya’s burial will be presided over by President Emmerson Mnangagwa and we are happy as the Ministry of Veterans of the Liberation Struggle. To the Mabuya family be proud that you had a son in the likes of Colonel Retired Mabuya, he was such a brave man. Cde Kenny Ridzai Mabuya contributed immensely to the liberation struggle. It was not easy to fight for liberation, especially in those days because the whites were using sophisticated weapons but we managed to defeat them with the likes of Cde Ridzai who took it upon himself to educate the nation to fight whites. He established a training Corps which comprised Zimbabweans.”
Colonel Retired Mabuya, whose Chimurenga name was ‘Cde Kenny Ridzai’, was born in 1952 in Filabusi, Matabeleland South Province, where he began his school.
Cde Ridzai went to Lusaka for military training before departing for Itumbi Training Camp in Tanzania in December 1969 and returned to Zimbabwe in 1972.
In 1977, the late national hero was sent to China for further military training where he was appointed to lead an advance group to the Lancaster House Conference in 1979.
After independence in 1980, the late Colonel Retired Mabuya was attested into the Zimbabwe National Army in 1981.
During his illustrious career in the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, the late Senior Officer held several challenging appointments, before his retirement in 1994 after receiving several accolades.
