Source: Loyalty, expertise, incompetence or simply nowhere to go? –Newsday Zimbabwe
Augustine Chihuri (September 1993 — December 2017; acting from December 18, 1991) is a man whose name became attached to the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) as Commissioner-General, eclipsing his predecessors and even his successors.THEIR names have stuck to their professions and have become the face of the organisations.
It could be because of their expertise or longevity in the same position that no one thought they would one day retire.
One would never know what was going on in their minds.
It was either loyalty or not employable elsewhere.
Augustine Chihuri (September 1993 — December 2017; acting from December 18, 1991) is a man whose name became attached to the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) as Commissioner-General, eclipsing his predecessors and even his successors.
Today, you can go onto the streets and ask anyone who the police commissioner-general is.
Chances are high that many will say: “It’s Chihuri.”
During his time, people coined their own statements that referred to the police, but attached Chihuri’s name.
For example, motorists would call a police block “Chihuri ahead”.
If anyone was to commit an offence, people would warn them to be aware of Chihuri.
Even the late musician Andy Brown once sang about Chihuri in his song Mapurisa back in 2003.
Chihuri’s predecessors — Wiridzayi Nguruve (July 1982 — February 1985) and Henry Mukurazhizha (February 1985 — December 19, 1991) — were not as popular as him.
His successor Godwin Matanga is already out, having come in acting on December 19, 2017 and substantive on February 12, 2018 until last December.
His tenure cannot be equalled by Chihuri’s.
Incumbent police boss Stephen Mutamba might also not even surpass Chihuri’s popularity.
Today, you will hear people asking: “Ko Chihuri munyuwani anonzi ani?” literally meaning who is the new police commissioner-general.
Chihuri was appointed commissioner general in an acting capacity from 1991 to 1993 and became substantive up to 2017.
He went into exile after the 2017 military coup that toppled then President Robert Mugabe.
That was the end for Chihuri.
The police force today is even referred to as Mupurisa aChihuri (Chihuri’s police officers).
Funny enough, he was on suspension as Assistant Commissioner when he was called to duty by Mugabe.
Not to be outdone is Tobaiwa Mudede.
The man spent a whopping 38 years as Zimbabwe’s Registrar-General —that is from 1980 until his retirement in 2018.
Though he became very popular at the turn of the new millennium due to the fact that he was the one who was responsible for announcing elections results, citizens would imitate or lampoon, describing anyone suspected of telling lies as Mudede.
This was in reference to how the public perceived him a liar all the time he declared Mugabe the winner of all past elections against the preferred opposition MDC founding leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
For those wishing to obtain travel documents, birth certificates as well as identity documents, they would simply say tirikeunda kwaMudede, to mean “we are going to Mudede (RG)’s office”, as if everyone from the RG’s office was Mudede.
On the list of long-serving employees, one cannot leave out Mariyawanda Nzuva, the Public Service Commission chairman, whose name was in stark contrast with what the constituency he led earned.
He was at the helm of the commission from 1992 up to 2018 when he retired.
Whenever there was a salary increment to civil servants or when the government announced bonuses, citizens referred to civil servants as “vana Mariyawanda”.
Another person whose name became the face of an organisation is Fanuel Masikati, the former National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) public relations officer.
No one can downplay the work this man did for NRZ in public relations, advocacy and communications.
He was with the organisation at a time the national rail transporter was at its peak and is one of the go-to persons to get an appreciation of what really happened to this once mighty parastatal, which is now a pale shadow of its former self.
Then there was Tsvangirai, who was the secretary-general of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU), whose works were very impactful to the labour movement in Zimbabwe.
He could call for protests and stayaways and people would heed his calls.
Though he became the president of the MDC, Tsvangirai left an indelible mark at the ZCTU.
He was at the helm of the union for 11 years.
The late Perrance Shiri also has his name written in the history books of the Air Force of Zimbabwe.
From 1992 to 2017, he was the Air Marshall, calling shots to the women and men whose wings are the fortress of the nation.
But for all these men, was it loyalty to the powers that be, or it was expertise that could not be secured anywhere in the country?
Or it was simply incompetence or that they had nowhere else to go!
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