THE Constitutional Law Centre (CLC) has declared five days of mourning for Zimbabwean intellectual, Alex Magaisa, a law expert who succumbed to cardiac arrest recently at a hospital in the United Kingdom where he was based.
Magaisa departed unexpectedly at the age of 46 barely two months before his birthday.
He was one of the founders of CLC.
CLC joined the rest of the mourners in consoling the Magaisa family, friends and Zimbabwe as a whole following the passing on of late former Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai’s advisor during the Government of National Unity.
They also confirmed the declaration of five days of mourning in a statement. Part of the statement reads.
“In the morning of 5 June 2022, a dark cloud engulfed the nation. Zimbabwe’s most dedicated and patriotic public intellectual, Dr Alex Magaisa took his last breath, leaving behind a rich legacy of active citizenship. As the Constitutional Law Centre, in collaboration with the many friends of Alex Magaisa, and the people of Zimbabwe, we join the Magaisa family in mourning our national hero.”
Magaisa was a lecturer at the University of Kent at the time of his death, he also worked for the University of Warwick and the University of Nottingham. His main area of teaching and research was company and financial services law.
“Dr Magaisa was a giant public intellectual, who dedicated his life in service to the common good. A former Advisor and Chief of Staff to the late former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai during the coalition government, Dr Magaisa became Zimbabwe’s most politically conscious thought leader who gave his time and knowledge generously for the advancement of human rights, democracy and good governance.
Dr Magaisa could have chosen to live a different life. With a mind like that, he could have done anything he wished. He could have chosen other spaces as a human being because he could afford to do so. But he chose to live his life in a public sphere, with the ordinary struggling masses of Zimbabwe. For that, he has deservedly become the people’s hero,” the statement reads.
He also played a big part in the March 2013 Zimbabwe constitutional referendum as he was the technical adviser to the Constitution Parliamentary Select Committee (COPAC).
“In that regard, on behalf of the millions of Zimbabweans whose lives are touched by Alex Magaisa, today we declare Dr Alex Tawanda Magaisa the People of Zimbabwe’s National Hero.
In line with this declaration, we are declaring from today, 5 days of mourning. These days starting from today, a series of activities have been lined up to give Dr Magaisa a befitting send-off. He believed in this nation and its people. He gave us a constitution that he believed would give birth to a new Zimbabwe.
Dr Magaisa worked hard to see the birth of that Zimbabwe. We will immortalize that legacy,” reads part of the statement.
Starting tonight at 1900 hours, CLC’s social media pages will be flooded with various people taking the podium paying their last respect to the fallen lecturer.
Magaisa is survived by his wife Shamiso and two children, Anotida and Tinotenda.
