A fortnight ago the Mushonga family held a well-attended memorial service for Dr Mushonga who had become both a brother and father to them. Three months earlier on Saturday August 15, 2009 people came from all corners of Zimbabwe and beyond to pay their last respects to a good man.

Some flew, others drove or travelled by bus and some walked. They came in their hundreds to pay their last respects to Dr Christopher Mushonga or just "Chris", as he preferred to be called. He was a true son of the soil of Zimbabwe which he loved with a passion. He stood head and shoulders even above most of those buried at the Heroes' Acre and are celebrated as heroes today.

Many came sobbing with tears on their cheeks. They were devastated for they had lost a true and dear friend, a trusted colleague, a benefactor, a loving father or uncle or a real relative. Others came so that people could see that they were there. They craved the prestige that would go with being associated as a relative or close friend of this good man.

President Robert Mugabe was there. As a relative of the Mushonga family and because the bereaved widow, Priscilla is a cabinet member in government and also because of who Dr Mushonga was, President Robert Mugabe went to the Mushonga home to pay his last respects and to offer his condolences to the family. He declared that the funeral would be state assisted. This gave a green light to members of Zanu PF who were not sure whether they should go to the funeral since both Mushonga and his wife, Priscilla, were members of the hated opposition. The floodgates were opened. Zanu PF was there in full force as well as the ever present "madzisawhira" who were unashamedly asking for money for their services.

Both MDCs were also well represented. Both Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Mutambara were there. Dr Christopher Mushonga was a member of the MDC led by Tsvangirai and his wife Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga is a member of the MDC led by Mutambara. The Church was there, too. Chris was a Catholic but Priscilla is Protestant. The services were, therefore, by both Catholic and Protestant clergy, taking turns.

So again, a fortnight ago at his memorial glowing testimonies of his helpfulness to friends and family members were given. Because I was not able to attend the memorial service due to family commitments I decided to write my testimony to a good and loyal friend, Christopher.

I first knew about Dr Mushonga when I was studying in the United States. All I knew about him was that he was a brilliant orthopaedic surgeon practicing in New York. When I returned home in 1975, I re-established my relationship with the nationalist leaders with whom we had worked with as youths in the NDP and ZAPU especially, James Chikerema and George Nyandoro who had returned from exile and were now in the country. As a writer I found these two very helpful as sources of information on what was going on in the country.

One day Chikerema took me to a small hardware shop in Harare. He was about to introduce me to the owner Gibson Muzadzi. I told him that introductions were not necessary since Gibson was my cousin through our Shava Museyamwa totem and that we had grown up together in Mbare Township. Chikerema was delighted. He explained that Gibson was his aunt's son and he wanted very much for us to be close friends. He then went with me to No. 87 Fife Avenue, which was a doctor's surgery. There he introduced me to Dr Christopher Mushonga. He said Mushonga was his other favourite nephew and he wanted us to be close friends as well. "When I die I want the two of you and Muzadzi to see that I am buried well at Kutama."

So began my long-lasting and fulfilling relationship with the late Christopher Mushonga. I knew him well. He was a good man, an unusually good man. He was raised in the Catholic faith having been confirmed and baptised at Chishawasha mission his ancestral home. However, he was not a doctrinaire kind of Christian. The laws he lived by were those which Christ indicated were the fulfilment of all the Law. Christ said to those who had asked Him which was the greatest commandment. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it.

"Love your neighbour as yourself"

I can testify, without fear of contradiction that Christopher loved his neighbour. Even though he was a highly acclaimed physician and financially well to do, he remained modest and humble. He counted, among his friends, the rich, the educated, the uneducated, the poor, the young, the old and the handicapped. He loved people to a fault. The major fault being that he trusted everybody and ended up being swindled by many. At one time he rescued a so-called friend from abject poverty. He then asked him to manage his chicken rearing business. The man stole so much that he destroyed the business. I told Christopher to report the matter to the police.

"Oh, I can't do that. That money will take him nowhere. God will judge him." Chris said. Such was his magnanimity.

Above all he felt compassion for the sick. As a doctor he never went on strike and never once complained about the meagre salary he was earning as a government doctor. He would wake up at 5am to go to the operating theatre even when he was sick himself.

Christopher Mushonga loved his country, Zimbabwe. Even though he was a successful doctor in America he did not forget home. He kept in close touch with what was going on. At one time during the liberation struggle the Zimbabwe Liberation Army (Zanla) ran out of money. Dr Mushonga gave them $ 10 000 from his own pocket so that the struggle for Zimbabwe's freedom could continue. If that is not heroism, then tell me what is.

One of Dr Mushonga's biggest disappointments was the failure by Zanu PF to live up to expectations. After the advent of independence that political party dumped overboard all their high-sounding ideologies, and policies in a still-continuing greedy stampede for power and wealth. What remains now are just the hollow-sounding slogans. In the early eighties Dr Mushonga and some friends formed the Foundation for a Democratic Zimbabwe (Fodezi). Its aim was to support physically and otherwise political parties and other organizations seeking to bring democratic rule to Zimbabwe. Margaret Dongo's Zimbabwe Unity Movement and James Chikerema's Zimbabwe Democratic Party both received assistance from it. His surgery 82 Baines Avenue became the meeting place for aspiring politicians and indeed all who were disillusioned by the Zanu PF government. The CIO did not have to work as hard as they do now to get information. They just went to Dr Mushonga's on Friday evening and on Monday their notebooks would be full of information. He even provided the drinks.

Christopher Mushonga was a good man but he was no saint especially in matters of love. He was Don Juan personified. He had nine children by six women in and out of marriage. However, in mitigation I need to say he was not a scoundrel who just sowed wild oats. He loved his children and personally cared for them well. Today they are well-educated and well- adjusted citizens who loved their father. Two followed in their father's footsteps and are medical doctors in the United States.

The irony of it all is that the good Dr Christopher Mushonga did not die a natural death. He was brutally murdered by so-called robbers in his own house. As we ponder on his life and manner of death, we who are his friends and relatives are left with more questions and no answers.