A few years ago, I wrote a controversial article in defence of the political legacy of the late Learnmore Judah Jongwe. The furore that followed up on the said article was somewhat expected given the nature of the last days of Jongwe before his untimely death. But what was rather unexpected is some of the very personal attacks that I got for daring to highlight some of Jongwe’s major contributions to the national political landscape.
In one instance, I was brutally attacked for defending a heartless and remorseless murderer largely due to my political bias in his favour. The person further claimed that I was wrong even to dare write anything good about Jongwe since his act of shame necessitated that everyone avoid glorifying him in the national domain. My rabid critic insisted that Jongwe was a disgraced fallen hero who could not be regarded as a role model under whatever circumstances.
Be that as it may, I need to ensure that first and foremost, I do not get misunderstood as to exactly reason why I have once again dared to venture into the potentially murky waters that always surround the debate about the Jongwe legacy.
It is an indisputable fact that Jongwe deserved all his reputation as an astute and charismatic leader both at the University of Zimbabwe and later on in the opposition party trenches with the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
However despite of his evident leadership potential, he has his own personality flaws to contend with. But perhaps what eventually proved to be his achilles heel was his fiery temper. Those who were privileged to be close enough to the youthful legend like I was; then they will know for certain that at most times, Jongwe was a very sociable and affable fellow. He always strove to maintain a jovial mood and sought to be as happy as possible.
And as fate would have it, it was Jongwe’s failure to control his temper on that fateful night in August 2002 that led to him angrily severely assaulting his wife with a knife leading to her untimely death. This was indeed the lowest point of his rather short life that sadly he never got the chance to recover from till his own death.
Yet we must give credit where it is due. I had the privilege of visiting Jongwe at the Harare remand prison less than 12 hours before he passed away. It was a lunch hour visit in which I was accompanied by my wife and sister in law.
All the three of us agreed after we had left the prison precincts, that Jongwe seemed to have been fair enough and accepted full responsibility for his wife’s gruesome death. The man we met that day was so remorse and was so filled with so much regret that it broke my heart.
He appeared to fully admit his mistake and was ready to face the wheels of justice. At no stage did he ever attempt to defend his deed.
Added to that, he clearly understood that he had let down not only his wife and baby girl, but also his broader family and the nation, especially the MDC. He asked for forgives from us for his mistake and regretted that it was too late to beg his late wife for forgiveness. My last glimpse of him was a clearly remorsefully person whom i left with a face flowing with so much tears of sorrow and regret.
It is therefore a very sad story that the nation never got that opportunity to see Jongwe in the court room. I am very confident that if he had managed to go through his murder trial, he would have used the judicial process to express his full regret and apologised not only to his in-laws but the rest of his family, colleagues and the nation at large.
But still the million dollar question still remains to be answered. Why in the name of goodness am I still harping about Jongwe almost a decade after his passing away?
I am still determined to ensure that Jongwe’s legacy, even though tainted by his last days, should not be completely forgotten. Jongwe’s selfless contribution to the national discourse both as an outstanding student leader and also as an opposition party leader should never be easily brushed and completely forgotten.
Up until Jongwe made his fatal mistake, he had been highly regarded by his friends and foes alike. He was seen as a role model and was a source of inspiration for many people especially the youths and students. A lot of people never doubted that he had a very bright future in the field of politics. But alas, it was not to be.
It is my strong view that Zimbabweans when judging the legacy of their fallen heroes; always make the mistake of not giving them their due credit. At times we are way too moralist in our judgement of our own fallen heroes. No one is perfect. So it is unfair to know that no matter how hard you work hard to make a contribution to the national development, then whenever you make a big mistake; the nation does all it can to erase you from their memory.
In this regard, Jongwe is not alone since we have some outstanding national heroes such as the late Canaan Banana, who incidentally I have also been heavily involved in a desperate attempt to salvage his own legacy.
Zimbabweans need to learn from the South Africans, Europeans and Americans who always try their best to differentiate between a person’s contribution to the nation’s development and mistakes they have made in their own personal lives.
If this trend continues, our history archives will end devoid of any proper records of the various people who devoted most of their lives to make a sterling contribution for the good of our nation. We really owe this to the whole lot of them.
We simply cannot afford to continue to throw away the water and the baby!
* Written by Daniel Molokele
