FILABUSI – Several traditional chiefs and dignitaries almost missed the burial of Chief Vezi Maduna Mafu on Wednesday due to impassable roads, many of them arriving only as the body was being taken out to its final resting place.
So bad is the dirt road from Filabusi Centre to the late chief’s homestead in Avoca that even four-wheel-drive vehicles, celebrated for their ability to handle the toughest of terrains, took no less than 2 hours to travel the less than 50 km distance.
Even a road grader dispatched to clear obstacles ahead of the burial could not help matters.
This embarrassed local government minister July Moyo who promised villagers that more roadworks would be carried out in honour of Chief Maduna, who died Saturday aged 86.
“Yesterday I was able to call my colleagues, the minister and secretary of the ministry of transport to say please go and put a grader so that the people of Godlwayo can see that you have not abandoned them. This work will continue,” Moyo, who flew in by helicopter, told mourners.
He also promised asphalt upgrades on the West Nicholson-Mberengwa road, something that the late Maduna spent years campaigning for.
A dozen chiefs, including National Chiefs Council President Fortune Charumbira, his deputy Chief Mtshane Khumalo and Chief Masendu almost failed to pay their last respects, arriving way into proceedings.
Chief Mtshane Khumalo had to apologise to mourners saying, “We are sorry we delayed, the state of the road is terrible, we were negotiating the un-trafficable road and it took us hours to arrive here.”
Chief Maduna was the longest-serving traditional leader in the country after his installation on 27 August 1974.
He participated in the war of liberation and was jailed for a number of years and only released in 1980 when the country became independent.
Zimbabwe’s road network has deteriorated over decades due to neglect, misplaced priorities, and endemic corruption that has seen the looting of millions meant for upgrades.
The government declared a state of disaster for all urban and rural roads a few weeks ago, meaning emergency funding, probably running into billions of U.S. dollars, is now required for renovations.
