27 February 2022
1045hrs CAT
Zim GBC News
Prosperity Sikhosana

In this week’s episode of Heroes we are profiling national hero Leopold Tapfumaneyi Takawira.

Popularly known as “Lion of Chirumanzi” a nickname he gained during his days as a Commander, training soldiers for liberation war.

Takawira was born in 1916 in the Victoria District at Chirumanzi.

He was educated at primary schools in Southern Rhodesia and Marianhill in Natal and qualified as a teacher.

He became an assistant teacher at Chipembere Government School.

He worked as an assistant teacher for many years before being promoted to Headmaster at Chipembere Government School.

It is at Chipembere School where he began his revolutionary work.

Takawira organised teachers’ first attack against the racially-discriminatory practice of white minority settler regime.

He quit teaching in order to join Col. David Stirling’s Capricon Africa Society and became Executive Officer.

In 1959, upon hearing that a new nationalist party was being planned to replace the banned ANC, he approached the sponsors and asked to join.

He became a foundation member of the nationalist movement NDP and was elected Chairman of the important Harare Branch.

On the 21st of September 1960 Takawira was elected interim president. At the party Congress in November he stood for the post of president but was beaten by Joshua Nkomo who later appointed Takawira as his (Nkomo) placement as Director of International Relations (with headquarters in London).

It is during this time that he sent a cable back home denouncing the 1961 constitutional conference results which gave 15 seats to Africans in a Parliament of 65.

This led to an emergency trip by Nkomo to London and to a reversal of the NDP’s stance.

The NDP was banned due to alleged three reasons:

-a massive demonstration was organised in Salisbury for NDP members to march to the official residence of the Prime Minister to demand for the release of Chikerema, Nyandoro and other restrictions in Mafungabusi area of Gokwe.

-the rejection of the 1961 Southern Rhodesian Constitution by NDP. “How could Joshua Nkomo and his horde of uneducated black people to take over the government of Southern Rhodesia overnight?”

-was accused of riots that caused the destruction of property and loss of human lives.

This led the ban of NDP thereby leading the formation of Zimbabwe African People’s Union where Takawira was appointed as secretary for external affairs.

ZAPU caused havoc in White owned farms.

Dissatisfied with Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo’s military tactics, Takawira split from ZAPU into newly formed ZANU by Ndabaningi Sithole, Herbert Chitepo, Edgar Tekere.

Takawira became ZANU’S first Vice President.

In 1964, he was arrested under suspicion of belonging to ANC.

He was arrested and detained at Wha Wha, Sikombela and Salisbury Central Prisons respectively.

At Salisbury Central Prison, his health failed. Unfortunately the white minority settler regime denied him permission to medical attention.

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On June 15, 1970 Takawira collapsed and went into a coma and later died.

The postmortem showed he suffered from diabetes.

Due to the negligence of Prison authorities, the Smith Regime was blamed for his death.

After independence his remains were exhumed and intered at the National Heroes Shrine in Harare. He was also honoured by having several roads all over the country named after him post humously.

During his lifetime, Takawira was regarded as the leader of the Karangas and it is significant that since his death, no generally acceptable replacement has been found.

Zim GBC News

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