BULAWAYO – Retired Colonel Tshinga Judge Dube, a renowned war hero and former Makokoba Member of Parliament, has passed away at the age of 83.
Dube, a distinguished liberation fighter, took his last breath Thursday evening at Bulawayo’s Mater Dei Hospital.
His son Vusa Dube confirmed the development, describing it as a “shock”.
“I can confirm that my father Colonel (Retired) Tshinga Dube passed on today at 7:34pm at Mater Dei Hospital in Bulawayo following a kidney failure. Of course, he has been unwell for the past 10 years, but his death came as a shock to us as a family,” he said.
Dube was born on July 3, 1941, in Fort Usher, Matobo District, Matabeleland South. He joined the liberation movement in the 1960s and later trained as a guerrilla fighter in the Soviet Union and China in 1972.
The training paved the way for his leadership role in the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) during the liberation struggle.
Dube recently castigated a group of Zanu-PF officials advocating for the extension of Mnangagwa’s term of office beyond the constitutionally mandated two-term limit. The constitution does not allow Mnangagwa to run for the presidency in 2028.
But a faction opposed to Vice President Constantino Chiwenga’s succession plan has continued to call for the amendment of the constitution to allow Mnangagwa to rule until 2030 or beyond.
Although Mnangagwa has publicly denied any plans to extend his rule, he has failed to stop his supporters from chanting slogans advocating for the controversial subversion of the country’s supreme document.
Dube described those supporting the idea as “selfish”. He advised Mnangagwa not to succumb to that pressure, citing that the move would potentially destroy his legacy.
“There are various opinions on the succession issue. Most of the members of the party have said he should hang on to power, but he has said that he will follow the constitution,” Dube said last month during the burial of liberation war hero Killion Dube at Lady Stanley Cemetery.
“We have not heard him saying he wants to cling on to power beyond his term of office but we should know that while men propose, God disposes.
“We do not know what is going to happen in four years to come, even spirit mediums do not know, only God knows. Advisers are problematic, those advising him are only looking at things that benefit themselves.
“We must be careful with the advice that we give to the President so that it does not benefit individuals only because we want his legacy to remain; these things can destroy his legacy after working so hard as a minister, surviving hangman’s noose and at the end of the day his legacy is destroyed like that.”
