Published by the government of Zimbabwe
3 July 2008
Harare — ACTING President Cde Joice Mujuru yesterday said Zimbabweans had - by voting for President Mugabe in the presidential run-off - sent a strong message to the agents of regime change that they wanted to defend their independence, sovereignty, land and defeat imperialism.
Addressing mourners at the National Heroes' Acre in Harare during the burial of Zimbabwe's late ambassador to Sudan, Cde Lloyd Gundu, the Acting President said voting for the opposition would have meant "selling our birthright and our heritage through the stroke of a pen".
Cde Gundu passed away on June 27 when Zimbabweans voted wisely and gave Cde Mugabe another deserved five-year term.
"We voted wisely. We defended our independence, our sovereignty and our land. We defeated imperialism.
"It was not to be and I am sure I speak for him (Cde Gundu) and other heroes buried here and elsewhere, that we did them proud. We did not betray them by selling our country," she said.
The nation, she added, voted for total independence, total sovereignty, thus putting to shame the agents of regime change who had invested heavily in man and resources to achieve that.
Cde Mujuru said it was time to close ranks and focus on rebuilding the nation because Zimbabweans were a peace-loving people.
"This is the time to close ranks and focus on rebuilding our nation; reviving the economy, all of us putting our hands to the plough and ensuring greater productivity on the land, in the mines, in industry and in all our stations in life," she said.
In a number of regrettable incidences, she said lives were lost, people injured and property destroyed through uncalled for acts of arson.
"Ngativei vanhu vane hunhu, ubuntu, vanotya kuuraya for the sake of kuuraya," she said.
Cde Mujuru chronicled Cde Gundu's heroic deeds beginning with his challenging of repressive colonial laws while at Bernard Mizeki Mission in Marondera, leading to his expulsion at the tender age of 13.
She described Cde Gundu as an indefatigable, brave freedom fighter who was among the first group of cadres to receive military training in China alongside Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa, the late Cdes Felix Santana, Robert Garachani, Phebion Shoniwa and John Chigaba.
"He used his newly-acquired military skills to fight the enemy here in Zimbabwe. Cde Gundu's guerrilla exploits in Mutare, Kwekwe and Harare put him on the most-wanted list of freedom fighters targeted by the colonial regime's security agents," she said.
Cde Gundu was inevitably arrested in March 1964 and sentenced to death for blowing up the offices of the African Daily News, the propaganda tool of the settler regime.
The sentence was later commuted to life in prison until his release on April 16 1980.
Even in jail, he remained an active member of the liberation movements where he shared a cell with the likes of Minister of Home Affairs Cde Kembo Mohadi and Cde Mnangagwa.
Because of his dedication to duty, Cde Gundu rose through the ranks to the post of director in the President's Office.
"He was an untiring, hardworking intelligence officer, humble, unassuming, affable, pleasant and loyal to the State and his organisation," she said.
Before his deployment to Sudan, Cde Gundu was Zimbabwe's ambassador to Yugoslavia. She said in both stations, Cde Gundu minded Zimbabwe's interests diligently.
The Acting President urged other ambassadors and civil servants to emulate Cde Gundu in putting the interests of Zimbabwe first to the extent of laying down their lives to ensure that Zimbabwe, our motherland, is free from the shackles of white colonialism.
"These are the values of the liberation struggle that we must emulate in order to forge ahead and defend our heritage," she said.
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