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CIO boss dies

Politics
The deputy director-general of the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) and former member of the Zimbabwe National Liberation Army (Zanla) general staff, Menard Livingstone Muzariri, has died. He was 56. Muzariri died yesterday morning at St Anne’s Hospital after a short illness. There were indications last night he would be declared a national hero. The President’s […]

The deputy director-general of the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) and former member of the Zimbabwe National Liberation Army (Zanla) general staff, Menard Livingstone Muzariri, has died.

He was 56.

Muzariri died yesterday morning at St Anne’s Hospital after a short illness. There were indications last night he would be declared a national hero.

The President’s Office confirmed the death and said Muzariri had left a “legacy of total, undivided loyalty in serving the nation”.

Muzariri abandoned school in 1973, while in Form Two, and crossed into Mozambique to join the liberation struggle.

He did his initial military training at Mgagao Camp in Tanzania before going for the advanced instructor’s course at the same camp.

“Due to his unwavering loyalty and diligence to duty, Muzariri was tasked to work as General Staff liaison officer from November 1975 up to February 1977 . . . He was later posted to Zambia in 1978 where he worked at the party’s offices as an administrator, a duty that called for sobriety and clarity of mind as the party’s administrative machinery was essential in assisting the war effort,” read the statement from the President’s Office.

The department said Muzariri gained valuable knowledge into how the party system operated and was to use the knowledge in Botswana in 1978, where he worked as a political commissar at the party offices.

In 1979, after the signing of the ceasefire, he was deployed to Mozambique where he worked for the party’s administrative machinery.

After the attainment of independence in 1980, Muzariri was deployed to the Prime Minister’s Office as an intelligence officer.

“He attended prestigious intelligence institutions in Africa and abroad, obtaining internationally recognised intelligence qualifications that saw him being promoted to the post of Head of Division in 1984,” the department said.

“He was later promoted on account of his professional acumen and good demeanour to the post of Director Internal in April 1997.

“His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe and Commander In Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, Robert Mugabe, in 2003 appointed him to the rank of Deputy Director General in the President’s Department, a rank he held at the time of his untimely passing-on.”

Muzariri is survived by his wife Esther Chiremba and five children. Mourners are gathered at number 27 Ross Road, Borrowdale, Harare.