Professor Gordon Chavunduka buried
The late president of the Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers’ Association, Professor Gordon Chavunduka, who died on Friday, was buried at his family farm in Dowa small-scale farming area yesterday.
Professor Chavunduka was a former member of the MDC-T’s national executive and sat on its Council of Elders at the time of his death. He is also the father of former ZBC TV and later CNN newsreader Alice Chavunduka.
Speaking at burial Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai bemoaned the loss of a candid and frank advisor in the party adding that the nation had lost a true liberator, who stood by the ideals of a free Zimbabwe from the colonial era right into the pro-democracy era.
“When the intellectual, cultural, social and political history of Zimbabwe is written, Professor Chavhunduka’s name will certainly take its place among the titles of great sons and daughters who have made an indelible mark on the nation’s pathway,” the MDC-T leader said.
Chavunduka was born at St Augustine’s Mission Penhalonga, on 16 August 1931. His parents (Solomon and Lilian Chavunduka) came from Wedza. His father was originally an agricultural instructor but subsequently became a farmer and a priest of the Anglican Church.
Chavunduka obtained a BA in Sociology and Social Anthropology from the University of California in the United States, an MA in Sociology from the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom, and a PhD in Medical Sociology from the University of London.
The esteemed academic worked his way up the academic ranks from assistant lecturer in 1966 to professor of sociology from 1979 to 1992, when he was then appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of Zimbabwe for a five-year contract period.
In 1979, Chavunduka served as a member of the Abel Muzorewa delegation at the Lancaster House Conference which culminated in Zimbabwe’s independence the following year. He also assumed the presidency of the Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers’ Association (Zinatha).
He is survived by his wife Rachel and five children.
