Prof Callistus Ndlovu: A man endowed with rare political instinct
From Page 8
apologise first to the then Vice-President JM Nkomo, for ditching PF-Zapu in 1984, it appears, became a permanent obstacle to his return to the front benches of Zanu-PF politics.
When the late Nust Vice-Chancellor, Prof Phinias Makhurane, offered to mediate and apologise on his behalf, CD would not have it. He had taken a conscious decision and had reflected on that decision, and felt no regret in it. In his defence, on having left PF-Zapu, Prof Ndlovu said only history would tell whether he had made an error of judgement or not.
Asked what his contemporaries had said about him leaving PF-Zapu, Prof Ndlovu was frank, “. . . they all seemed to have a common prophesy that I had made a grave error of political judgment and jeopardised my political career to which I would never rise again.” Barely three years after leaving PF-Zapu his PF-Zapu contemporaries joined Zanu-PF en masse. For many years, CD would argue with conviction that the issue of him joining Zanu-PF in 1984 and his contemporaries joining in 1987 were a mere distinction without a difference. In his death and burial, and possibly beyond, that distinction without a difference will forever continue as a dividing log in the public opinion mourning and celebrating the late Zanu-PF Provincial Chairman for Bulawayo.
With no immediate frontline space in which to lead in the reconfigured Zanu-PF, post 1987 Unity Accord between PF-Zapu and Zanu-PF, CD showed character as he waited patiently for the history to provide an opportunity. It seemed to go forever with some quick analysts beginning to believe that prophesy of jeopardised political career with no prospects of rising again had come to fruition. Almost resigned to fate that he would not return to frontline benches, Prof Ndlovu spent most of his valuable time farming and managing at Zipam for a good part of the post-90s period.
During the tenure of Prof Jonathan Moyo in the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Prof Ndlovu got an appointment to chair the Gwanda State University Steering Committee. It was during this time that he began to use, actively, his professorial honour. Events where he did not need his colossal figure or even his huge intellect popped up in the Zanu-PF playfield. Votes of no confidence on certain members of the Zanu-PF in Bulawayo created instability and in came an opportunity for Prof Ndlovu to come in as a stabiliser: first on an acting basis and later as a substantive provincial chairman, a position he held to his death.
Prof Ndlovu remained a true son of the soil of Kalanga heritage in Zimbabwe all his life. Unlike some pseudo academics who visit Western capitals for two-week courses, in some cases abridged learning programmes, and only to return to motherland with fake American English accents and values, CD proudly remained Kalanga despite years in the “heart of Western civilisation” world of politics, diplomacy and teaching.
His sense of humour was not always predictable. One time driving to his rural village of Sanzukwi in Mangwe, he came across a police roadblock just after Figtree. The junior officers asked for his driving licence to which he asked if they knew who he was. He told the officers that his name was Callistus Ndlovu. Professing ignorance, the officers insisted they could not locate who he was in their memories, and would not let him go. With a straight face towards the excitably officer he said, “. . . yah if you get home ask your mother who Callistus Ndlovu is.” He then drove off. That was the Professor’s other side.
Driving back to Bulawayo, on the same spot, the following day, a new team of police officers stopped him again. They asked for his driver’s licence. He explained that he had inadvertently left it at home. The officers asked him to leave behind something of value so he could come back to produce the licence. Shocked by the demand of the junior officer, he asked for the intervention of a senior officer on site. The senior officer confirmed the practice to which Prof Ndlovu calmly responded, “. . . I don’t do puna ndikubudze.” That was the man Prof Ndlovu, comfortable in English as he was in his Kalanga language. He drove off leaving the officers with wideopen mouths.
As people mourn and celebrate the life of Callistus Dingiswayo Ndlovu today, few will remember all his many hats, strong political beliefs and ethos of good educational frameworks in advancing knowledge and understanding of society. Unlike some people survived by close relatives only, the entire political fraternity of Zimbabwe survives CD, in addition to his wife and family. The road to Plumtree will never be the same again.
Dr Nyathi is a Zimbabwean academic based in the United Kingdom.