WE LOST in Renson Gasela a combination of the past, present and the future of Zimbabwe. Usually, a life lost is only about one era of a history, and it is either the past or the present.

On April 24, 2010, I was in Bulawayo, just after the closure of the Trade Fair. The fateful phone call from my colleague Welshman Ncube [MDC secretary general] came, informing me that he had just received unconfirmed reports that Gasela and Lyson Mlambo [disciplinary committee chairman] had died in a horrific car accident about 25km from Zvishavane.

I refused to believe the news and immediately proceeded with Rita Ndlovhu (Former Senator) to Bulawayo Central Police Station to contact the Zvishavane police and seek additional information. The police in Zvishavane indicated they had received news of an accident but had no vehicle to proceed to the scene. In a panic, Rita and I drove to Zvishavane in thick fog to arrive at the scene of the accident at about 10PM.

I knew that had it been me in that accident, Gasela would have been the first person to make that trip. Gasela was the kind of man who, during the most difficult times of negotiations for the unity government, when every stick and stone was throne at some of us, when every name conceivable was given to us from “sell-outs”, “CIOs” to “Zanu PF zealots” he had our backs. Gasela was never ashamed to be publicly associated with a friend, even when that association meant that he himself was ridiculed. Gasela was always a supportive friend and colleague and it was that characteristic in him that made me want to be there for him, in his hour of need.

On arrival, in what remained as just a ball of metal, Gasela and Mlambo were crushed in-between their seats and the dashboard, their bodies trapped with Gasela’s lifeless head hanging just outside the window. Fate had dealt a cruel and final blow to a man who had lived a life that made him a fundi in so many areas, and yet remained the epitomy of humility.

Obituaries are usually so sanitized, which is why I am rarely willing to do them. However, looking at Gasela in that car, I could not but feel it would be criminal to allow a life so complex to go unexplained, particularly since many people perhaps never understood why Gasela died a member of the one of the MDC formations.

I got to know Gasela when we both ran for elections in 2000, always a gentleman who had the amazing ability to exude calmness in all circumstances. For the decade that I knew Renson, I never saw him angry both in the united MDC and the split MDC. We had many an occasion that would have driven angels angry, but never Ga, as we affectionately called him. He had a penchant of telling stories that always put a smile on your face even when things looked difficult.

Human beings find it difficult to encourage and motivate others, Gasela was a motivator. In political meetings, many people find it easier to see the flaws and the limitations in others, Gasela always found the positives. You would be assured that the only person who would stand up in a meeting to thank the leadership or individuals for a job well done would be Gasela

As I began to know him better during the time we were Members of Parliament, I learnt of the trials and tribulations he had undergone during his time as general manager of the Grain Marketing Board (GMB), where he understood more than anyone, the complexities of Zanu PF. Whilst many people who interacted with that party, as soon as they became members of the opposition, would speak about it in disparaging terms, Ga would always give you a fair and balanced analysis, particularly in relation to his relationship and association with the President’s Office.

You noted a wistfulness for wanting to be back at the GMB and restore the state grain procure to its glory days. This had been the place where he had accrued so much of his experience on any subject related to agriculture. Ga’s passion was in LAND, its use and its produce, he symbolised everything about ‘The Farmer’ and I know his happiest and most fulfilling times were during his tenure at the GMB.

Politically, Gasela was man of principle. It did not matter what others said about certain choices he made. If Gasela said he was with you because he believed in a principle, he would be unwavering. Seeing him in the indignity of death, it was perhaps ironically befitting that he died in that manner. It cannot be contested that Gasela, a spokesperson for the MDC (Mutambara), lived through the daily abuse meted on the party he so proudly stood for.

As the party’s deputy spokesperson, he dealt with a press that at every occasion found reason to belittle and ridicule him. The party he belonged to was “the smaller”, “the fringe” “the dissident MDC” etc, and yet everyday you heard his voice on Studio 7 radio, defending his party with such pride and unfazed by the attacks and abuse thrown at him. He remained a diplomat par excellence.

Much as he engaged with the media, he understood that what was most effective was direct contact with the people. He was a people’s person, someone who despite his own comfort zone, had no qualms spending days and nights in uncomfortable places deep in the rural communities of Zimbabwe connecting with the people on issues that mattered to them in forging a new Zimbabwe.

In these last days, Gasela was also one of the few who could speak with clarity on the elephant in the room, the most sensitive subject that has dominated Zimbabwean politics: that of tribe. He had begun, unlike many Zimbabweans, to articulate how the subject of tribe defined the past and the present politics of this country.

Because of his ability to be non-offensive, Gasela in many meetings was able to eloquently unpack the Ndebele-Shona discourse and show how it has dominated politics in Zimbabwe. Being married into a Shona woman, Gasela’s analysis of this subject was always made with dignity in spite of the indignity with which responses to the matter were always made.

In this context, whilst he lived in the present era of all these differences, he always was fighting for a new Zimbabwe, a new future in which people, irrespective of their ethnicity, were treated with respect and dignity.

The fact that he spent more than 10 hours trapped in twisted mental symbolises how his values and aspirations were trapped in a society that humiliated and curtailed the rights of anyone who sought to be different. A society, which unfortunately, punished people for refusing to play the game of political populism. Gasela died in the front line, he died seeking change that went beyond the surface.

I cannot end without recalling how Gasela spoke affectionately about his wife, Susan. He always spoke lovingly about her and as a result, we all knew of her ardent following of her favourite sport, tennis. We also knew that since the day they were married, regardless of any misunderstandings, Ga swore she would be in his arms. I sincerely hope, she knew just how much he cared for her.

On my part, I will miss a friend, a confidant, a pillar and a soldier in whom I knew whatever the case, he had my back.

Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga is the Minister of Regional Integration and International Co-operation and deputy secretary general of the MDC party led by Arthur Mutambara