BY SILAS NKALA FORMER aide to the late Vice-President Joshua Nkomo, Stanley John Wolfenden has died.
He was 75.
In a notice yesterday, his family said Wolfenden passed away on Saturday morning at his home in Harare after battling metastatic cancer.
“Family and friends it is with great sadness that we the family confirm the passing on of our rock, Stanley John Wolfenden. He was called to his maker in the early hours of Saturday June 18 at home in Harare,” the notice read.
Chairperson of Nitrum, a Zipra company, Walker Mathe yesterday also confirmed Wolfenden’s death saying: “He died in Harare where he had gone to see his children. He was resident in Nyamandlovu. He was instrumental in the identification of Zipra properties in Nyamandlovu.”
Despite being one of Nkomo’s aides, he was reportedly harassed by State security agents ahead of the 2008 elections, nine years after Nkomo’s death.
This was after the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) and the police took over three farms with prime tourist facilities in Matabaleland North province under controversial circumstances.
One of them was the Chiefs Lodge in the rich hunting area of Ntabazinduna.
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Chiefs Lodge is currently run by Floyd Ambrose, who has been operating it since 2004.
The CIO also took over Induba Lodges, whose ownership was being contested by Ibbo Mandaza.
“They asked me about my relationship with Dumiso Dabengwa (the late Zapu party leader), John Nkomo and Joseph Msika, before releasing me,” Wolfenden told our sister paper The Standard in 2008.
Funeral arrangements are yet to be announced, but mourners are gathered at number 7 Cranwell Avenue, Braeside, Harare.
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