(Last Updated on December 18, 2015 by Editor)
ZIMBABWE – Former Harare City town clerk, Advocate Edward Kanengoni, has died. He was 81.
Adv Kanengoni was the city’s first black town clerk appointed in 1981.
Family spokesperson, Tsitsi Chawatama, said Adv Kanengoni died on Wednesday morning of cardiac arrest at West End Hospital where he had been admitted for a month.
“My uncle suffered a stroke sometime back, which he never recovered from and a month ago he was admitted to West End Hospital before he succumbed to cardiac arrest on Wednesday morning,” she said.
His wife, Eunice was short of words to express the loss of her husband, saying he was a man of the people.
“I just do not know how I can express the loss of my husband, but what I can say is that sometimes good things should not come to an end. I wish he could always be here with me, our kids and everyone else,” she said.
“At the moment I do not know what to do with the kids who are throwing themselves on the ground with sorrow as they cannot embrace the passing on of their beloved father.”
Mrs Kanengoni said during his childhood, Adv Kanengoni stood his ground to endure a difficult upbringing during the oppressive years of colonial rule in which he survived by selling vegetables from a small family garden.
Eventually, he was able to get enough money to study for Junior Certificate, Ordinary Level and then Advanced Level.
His first job was a clerical work at the then Central African Airways before he got a scholarship to study as a Barrister of Law through the assistance of the then British Prime Minister Harold Wilson.
After qualifying as Advocate, he briefly worked in Britain in the legal department of Borough of Tower Hamlets, a local authority in East London, where he learned how councils were run before returning home to occupy the vacant town clerk’s position.
Adv Kanengoni joined the Harare City Council in 1981, becoming its first black town clerk, a position he held for 17 years before he left the council in 1998 to pursue other careers.
He also worked as a law lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe for a few years before venturing into farming.
Adv Kanengoni is survived by wife Eunice and four children.
Mourners are gathered at number 294 Coombe Road, Glen Lorne in Harare.
He will be buried at his rural home in Mhondoro, Mubayira growth point on Saturday.