RUTENDO CHIRUME
MASVINGO- Masvingo veteran member of Zanu-PF and businesswoman, Maina Mandava has paid tribute to President Mnangagwa for appointing into the ruling party’s Council of Elders.
To mark the historic appointment the family organised a celebration party which was attended by family and friends on May 27 at her farm house in Waterloo Plots near Masvingo Teacher’s College.
Mandava’s appointment was announced in October last year during the Zanu PF congress.
The Council compromises of 10 members of which two are from Masvingo Province where Mandava was selected along with former Masvingo Resident Minister Josiah Hungwe.
Some of the functions of the Council of Elders include to advise the President on all important matters to do with the party, uphold the ideology of the party.
“The President and the First Secretary, Cde E.D Mnangagwa appointed you as a member of Council of Elders during the 7th National People’s Congress with effect from October 29,” reads the letter of appointment.
She also expressed her gratitude to the president and highlighted that the job comes with challenges and hopes that she will meet the president’s expectations.
“My appointment came during the National Congress which was held last year, but I am celebrating it now because I was waiting for the letter of appointment from the President which finally came in March 2023 and so I was waiting for a convenient date.
“I am however grateful to the President for the recognition, it is a huge responsibility and very important to serve in such a role for the party.
“As an individual I feel humbled and I am determined to face the challenges associated with the post. I also hope that I will fulfil the President’s expectations,” said Mandava.
Mandava started being active in the 1970s when she joined the Zanu-PF as a war collaborator.
Working as the Sister in Charge at the then Fort Victoria Hospital, Mandava was not allowed to be active in politics or contributing to the war, but she risked her life and did it clandestinely.
“I was a civil servant and so I was not supposed to publicly participate in politics. I would secretly bring food, clothes for the wounded freedom fighters and at some point I would supply blood put it in my breasts for warmth and rush to the scene where it was needed.
“I worked with Doctor Simon Mazorodze to provide medical service to the wounded freedom fighters. Around 1972 my house in Mucheke area was used as a safe house for guerrillas, including the late Simon Muzenda who camped at my house that year when he was on his way to Mozambique.
“My duties involved providing food, clothes, transport and medical attention for the guerrillas among others,” narrated the elderly soft spoken Mandava.
After the country’s Independence she joined active politics and assumed various posts in the Zanu PF Women’s League from district level to national level and as Senator and Central Committee member.
Mandava applauded the government for the developmental projects it has accomplished under the Second Republic and urged people to vote for Zanu PF in the forthcoming harmonized elections.
.
