Story by Peter Chivhima
National hero, Colonel Retired Kenny Ridzai Mabuya has been described as a true revolutionary who was committed to the development of the country.
Having first met with the late Colonel Retired Kenny Ridzai Mabuya in Lusaka, Zambia in 1969, Colonel Retired Midson Mupasu said the late military strategist and intelligence supremo was a humble and soft-spoken cadre.
“I first met Cde Ridzai Mabuya in 1969 in Lusaka, Zambia before he went to Itumbi Training Camp in Tanzania. After that we met again and operated together in Mashonaland Central province. He was such a humble and soft-spoken man. I think this emanated from the department of security where he was working under. During the liberation of this country, we were very close and we were labelled as terrorists. He was later injured in Chiweshe before we were deployed together in Zambia at Chifombo base. Cde Ridzai Mabuya and I we oversaw vetting the newly recruits to see if they were not under the guise of whites. After the death of Cde Hebert Chitepo we were recalled again from Chifombo to Mboroma in Zambia and again Cde Kenny was there in charge, “he said.
To the family, he was a loving man.
“We have lost a good brother he was such a man who was able to balance his work and family. He used to unite everyone,” said a family member.
Colonel Retired Mabuya, whose Chimurenga name was ‘Cde Kenny Ridzai’, was born in 1952 in Filabusi, Matabeleland South Province, where he began his school.
He 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 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.
Colonel Retired Mabuya died on the 22nd of this month and was declared a national hero.
