Chitepo’s bodyguard still alive 50 years after bomb blast that killed his boss

One of the late Zimbabwe African National Union national chairman Herbert Chitepo’s bodyguards, Benson Nicodemus Kadzinga, whose chimurenga name was Sadat Kafumazuva, is still alive, 50 years after the bomb blast that killed his boss.

Kadzinga was given a standing ovation in Parliament yesterday and was acknowledged by Webster Shamu who paid tribute to Chitepo, whom he described as a movement, a warrior and strategist.

Shamu said Chitepo was killed on 18 March 1975 in “a brutal act of terrorism” by the Rhodesian regime of Ian Smith but they did not kill his dream. They did not silence his voice and they did not crush his spirit. 

“Cde. Chitepo was not just a man, he was a movement, a warrior and a strategist,” Shamu said.  “He could have embraced comfort, lived as a barrister in London, a scholar at the School of Oriental Studies (SOAS), a man of prestige but he chose a different path, the path of struggle, self-sacrifice and revolution.  He abandoned privilege to become the architect of our liberation. 

“Why? Because he understands a truth that must never be forgotten, the land question was at the very heart of our revolution.  The land is our birthright, our sovereignty and our dignity.”

Shamu said the blast also claimed the life of Chitepo’s loyal bodyguard, Silas Shamiso and a child next door. 

However, one of Chitepo’s committed bodyguards, a cadre of the revolution, Benson Nicodemus Kadzinga, whose nom de guerre was Sadat Kufamazuva survived this cowardly attack and sustained serious injuries.

Shamu said Kadzinga was in the Speaker’s gallery and ZANU-PF chief whip, Pupurayi Togarepi, asked that national assembly to salute him, and they did.

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