The ManicaPost
Lovemore Kadzura Post Correspondent
THE death of prominent businessman and renowned economist, Mr Jonathan Kumbirai Kadzura last week robbed the nation of an astute, principled and hard working patriot who served his country with distinction in various roles that he played.
Mr Kadzura (63) died last Saturday at Avenues Clinic in Harare after succumbing to prolonged chest pains and was laid to rest on Monday afternoon at Glenforest Memorial Park, at a funeral attended by politicians, Government officials, captains of industries, relatives, friends and others from different spheres of life.
Speaker after speaker hailed the contributions made by Mr Kadzura in shaping the national economy as they said he was readily available to offer his expertise for the positive development of his motherland.
Mourners described Mr Kadzura as an oasis of economic knowledge, sharp and straight talker who was so passionate about the upliftment of rising entrepreneurs.
Mr Kadzura was born in 1953 at Mutambara Mission where he enrolled for his secondary education before proceeding to Domboshava Training Centre.
He joined the then Umtali Rural District council as a secretary, a post he left in the late 70s as the war of liberation was at its peak. His support for the war of liberation got him in serious trouble with the Rhodesian government and he left the post in a huff fearing for his life.
With the Rhodesian army in hot pursuit, Mr Kadzura had to cross the flooded and crocodile infested Save River with the assistance of Retired Vice-Air Marshal Henry Muchena who was leading a guerrilla sector in Masvingo Province.
Rtd Vice-Air Marshal Muchena would later become an inseparable friend with Mr Kadzura till his death.
Mr Kadzura later crossed into Botswana enroute to Britain where he enrolled at Sheffield Polytechnic and graduated with a Masters in Economics degree.
After independence a youthful, intelligent, smart, sharp thinking and adventurous ‘Jade’ as his family members and close friends called him came back home. He briefly worked for big multinational companies holding key positions before venturing into his own businesses.
With the quest to uplift and develop his rural area of Marange, Mr Kadzura formed Rural Industrial Development (Pvt) Limited, a company that set up a giant chalk manufacturing plant, massive chicken rearing project and a fully fledged supermarket at Marange Business Centre.
Mr Kadzura struck gold with the chalk business as the new black Government was massively constructing schools to educate the nation and chalks were a critical component on demand. He became a millionaire.
Mr Kadzura later acquired a medium sized farm in Norton where he reared millions of broiler and egg chickens through his companies, Goodstorm Services and Fiveoaks.
He was among the first black Zimbabweans to export chickens and eggs after independence. This was a no mean feat for a fairly young and black entrepreneur to make it in the once white only business.
He later diversified his interests into various sectors of the economy. He was the sole proprietor of Mount View Hotel in Mutare.
He was a generous man who shared business ideas with those who approached him including assisting people to set businesses that would directly compete with his. He was a firm believer in the notion that for a nation to prosper, economic knowledge must be spread to every citizen.
His efforts did not go unnoticed as he won several local, regional and international awards that include The Terry Wright Prize, in the Best Paper in Management , Standard Charted Bank Zimbabwe rural businessman of the year and many others.
Though he was independent minded, Mr Kadzura worked hard behind the scenes for his party Zanu-PF and in the mid-90s he was part of research team with the likes of Rtd Air Commodore Mike Karakadzai.
He later joined politics full time and was admitted into the party’s National Consultative Assembly and he contested for the Mutare West constituency primary elections in 2013.
Impressed by the successful way Mr Kadzura was running his business enterprises, both State and private companies came asking for his services and that saw him heading several boards of parastatals and private entities.
Mr Kadzura chaired Air Zimbabwe and ZiscoSteel boards. He also set on the ZESA and Kusena Diamonds boards among others.
Mr Kadzura also appeared at various local and regional universities as a guest lecturer as the academia were keen to tap into his vast knowledge.
He was also a darling of the media, both local and international as his spot on analysis and opinions were in demand. At his peak, he was the most quoted in the media as an economist, agronomist and later on political analyst.
Close friend, Rtd Vice-Air Marshal Muchena said Mr Kadzura’s death was a great loss to the nation as he was a fountain and epitome of knowledge that benefited the country. He added that he was a fair and independent minded economist who deed not mince his word.
“This is a very sad loss to the country. Kadzura was a very rare breed of a businessman, economist and a citizen. He contributed well to the economic and national issues of the state. He left a legacy worth emulating and protecting. He passed through my sector in the 70s on his way to Britain and when he came back we became very close together with the late Mernad Muzariri. He was in commerce and we were in security, but we understood each other well.
“Jonathan was a very open-minded man. He hardly said what he does not mean. He would agree with what he mean and was not angered with that he does not believe in, but was open for debate,” said Rtd Muchena.
Family spokesperson and brother, Mr Philip Kadzura, said the family was saddened by the departure of Jonathan whom he said was a father, son and brother.
“We are very saddened and bitter because we have lost a great humanitarian in our family. Jonathan was a very generous, gentle and kind soul, a personality that was always enjoyed by many and his departure has left a huge gap in the family,” said Mr Philip Kadzura.
Kadzura is survived by three wives and 10 children.
