BY TAFADZWA KACHIKO THE Constitutional Law Centre (CLC), which was founded by the late academic and law expert Alex Tawanda Magaisa, yesterday declared him as a people’s national hero for the sterling work he did to improve governance issues.
This was announced yesterday at a Press conference in Harare by CLC secretary and Zimrights director Dzikamai Bere, who said after consultations with the Magaisa family, they resolved to give him a befitting hero’s send off.
Magaisa died on Sunday in the United Kingdom after a cardiac arrest. The University of Kent law lecturer is survived by his wife Shamiso, and two children Anotida and Tinotenda.
Five days of mourning have been set, and different activities that will include the Big Saturday March will be held in remembrance of his popular incisive blog, the Big Saturday Read (BSR) in which he succinctly explained legal and constitutional issues affecting Zimbabwe.
“Magaisa was a giant public intellectual who dedicated his life in service to the common good. He became Zimbabwe’s most politically conscious thought leader who gave his time and knowledge generously for the advancement of human rights, democracy and good governance,” Bere said.
“He could have chosen other spaces as a human being because he could afford to do so. But he chose to live his life in the public sphere, with the ordinary struggling masses of Zimbabwe. For that, he has deservedly become the peoples’ hero. In his own words he said ‘heroes are not decided in boardrooms, heroes are decided by the work they do during their lifetime’. In that regard, on behalf of the millions of Zimbabweans whose lives were touched by him today we declare him the People of Zimbabwe’s national hero.”
Bere said CLC will also host the inaugural Magaisa Memorial Lecture (yesterday evening), and also hold a virtual memorial service on Zoom on Friday, followed by the big Saturday March.
He said the inaugural Magaisa Memorial Lecture will be headlined by one of Zimbabwe’s most celebrated human rights lawyers Beatrice Mtetwa, who will give a keynote address.
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“The Friday virtual memorial service that will be streamed live on the CLC Facebook page will be hosted by human rights lawyer and activist Deprose Muchena who also worked and played with Magaisa.
“On Saturday, we celebrate Magaisa, the activist whose pen sent shivers down the spines of tyrants through the Big Saturday march. Many of you loved the BSR. Let’s gather at the Africa Unity Square at 11am for the march in honour of the BSR author. We will announce details of this important march in due course,” Bere added.
Citizens Coalition for Change spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere, Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum director Musa Kika and the former Zimbabwe Economics Society (ZES) president Lovemore Kadenge also had good words for the late Magaisa.
Meanwhile, several condolence messages continued to pour in for Magaisa.
