By Richard Mahomva
Stella Madzimbamuto is no more. This warrior woman set the inaugural precedence to challenge the legality/illegitimacy of Smith’s UDI in a court of law. To this very minute, the Madzimbamuto versus Lardner Burke landmark judgment is a global point of reference in cases of sovereignty, territorial, and state conflict.
To this end, her legacy is transcendent of the Zimbabwean political-historical landscape. She is a global anti-imperialist ironwoman whose story stands the test of time.
However, it was surprising to only find her at the centre of the roots of constitutional law in Zimbabwe in my undergrad constitutional law modules. However, this only exposes the inadequacy of the patriarchal constructions of Zimbabwe’s liberation memory.
Beyond her ‘othered’ role within the patriarchial matrices of the liberation memory, she remains a giant forerunner of Zimbabwe’s armed liberation. As she goes to meet her ancestors -and her husband -the late nationalist, Daniel Madzimbamuto, gogo Stella leaves a legacy of the fundamental and most relevant need to question, challenge and deconstruct the vestiges of the constitutional dehumanisation of our people.
Her passing on in the face of the protracted neo-imperial constitutional illegalities confronting our politics (ZIDERA, EU Sanctions) invites an urgent rethink of the notion of sovereignty and promotion of human rights in post-independent Africa.
Rest In Power Giant Defender of Black Justice. Upon the shoulders of your courage and charisma rests the new horizon to continue the fight against post-colonial constitutional illegalities and the global capitalist undermine of our determination to be FREE!!!!