Harare, Zimbabwe – President Emmerson Mnangagwa has officially declared Ambassador Victor Matemadanda a national hero following his passing on Saturday. The President described Matemadanda as a distinguished “war veteran who became part of the leadership of the association of our Liberation Veterans after Independence.”
The announcement was conveyed to the Matemadanda family on Monday night by Politburo member Cde Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, who extended President Mnangagwa’s heartfelt condolences.
Ambassador Matemadanda, aged 66, served as Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Mozambique and the Kingdom of Eswatini at the time of his death.
In his condolence message, President Mnangagwa expressed profound sorrow, highlighting the late diplomat’s unwavering nationalist convictions. These convictions, the President noted, originated in Matemadanda’s youth when he was part of the Zimbabwean migrant community in Zambia, seeking refuge from persecution under the Rhodesian settler colonial regime.
President Mnangagwa further elaborated on Matemadanda’s journey, stating, “I learnt with deep grief and sadness of the untimely demise on Saturday night of Cde Victor Matemadanda, Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to the sister Republics of Mozambique and Eswatini.” He continued, “A war veteran who became part of the leadership of the association of our Liberation Veterans after Independence, the late Cde Matemadanda’s association with nationalist politics and the National Liberation Struggle for our Independence dated back to his youthful days as part of the Zimbabwean migrant community, which had settled in Zambia to escape persecution and inhibitions in the then-settler colonial Rhodesia.”
Matemadanda’s commitment to the liberation struggle saw him leave the relative stability of migrant life in Zambia. He initially mobilized support for fighters and refugees in camps across Zambia and Mozambique, working alongside figures such as the late Cde Patrick Kombayi. He later became directly involved in the struggle, facilitating the transportation of war materials using large trucks to deliver supplies to forward operational points.
Following Zimbabwe’s independence, Cde Matemadanda joined the Zimbabwe National Army, where he served with “loyalty and utmost distinction.” After his military service, he continued to champion the interests of the ruling party and war veterans through the Veterans Association, which he helped lead. His steadfast defense of war veterans’ welfare and their integration into Party structures led to his repeated incarceration during the First Republic.
Cde Matemadanda subsequently served as the ruling Party’s National Political Commissar. In this role, President Mnangagwa credited him with bringing “exceptional vibrancy to the Party, which at the time sought to put behind it the largely fossilised ethos and inertia which had developed over time under the First Republic.”
As Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Mozambique and Eswatini, Cde Matemadanda distinguished himself by visiting all provinces in Mozambique that had housed Zimbabwe’s wartime bases. President Mnangagwa remarked, “To broaden his vista as one of the promising cadres in the leadership of the Party, I took the decision to introduce and redeploy him into our diplomatic service as Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Mozambique and Eswatini. He distinguished himself in that role, traversing all the Provinces in Mozambique which housed our wartime bases, and in which remains of countless Zimbabwean freedom fighters lie buried in mass graves.”
The President lamented that Matemadanda passed away before completing the program for the rehabilitation and curation of these revered sites. He assured that under the Second Republic, the Government would ensure the proper rehabilitation and curation of these burial grounds and shrines, stating, “This is the least we can do to honour our fallen heroes, and to pay lasting tribute to the late Cde Matemadanda.”
President Mnangagwa concluded his message by extending his deepest condolences: “On behalf of the Party, ZANU PF, Government, my family and my behalf, I wish to express my deepest, heartfelt condolences to the bereaved Matemadanda Family, especially to Amai Matemadanda and the children in this, their hour of profound grief. May they derive solace from the exceptional contribution which Ambassador Matemadanda made towards the freedom and development of his people, whom he so deeply loved. Our nation joins them and shares in their grief. May his dear soul rest in eternal peace.”
Among the top government officials who visited the Matemadanda home in Harare to offer condolences were the Minister of Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Affairs, Senator Monica Mavhunga, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Professor Amon Murwira.
Terrence Matemadanda, the late Ambassador’s oldest son and family spokesperson, expressed the family’s shock and grief, stating, “We are at a loss for words as a family because it happened suddenly, it is not something we expected or saw coming.”
