Tribute to Sam
One of the amazing things about Sam Moyo is that though he led a thoroughly professorial life, writing papers, attending conferences and publishing books and articles, Sam always had time for people. He loved people in the greatest sense and that love was returned in equal measure, as shown by the outpouring of emotions since his fatal accident two weeks ago.
From the start of our marriage in 1992, it was apparent that family life was very important to Sam. Every Sunday we visited Gogo (Sam’s beloved mother, Mavis Moyo) and some of his siblings in Harare, Lindiwe and Phahla, or Rhey and Julie, or Mabhena and Winnie. Outside Harare, Sam always looked for opportunities to visit Nkosana in London, John and Sharon in Lusaka, and Mike in Gweru, or Josh Nyoni who was practically a brother. Other regular family visits were to Gogo Khethiwe and Khulu Liberty Mhlanga, or to Auntie Sheila, or to the Mubis and Munyatis. Among other close friends who were like family members, Sam considered Chloe Paul as a kindred spirit.
Sam’s children were the light of his life. Sibongile, Thabisile, Samantha, Qondisile and Zandile brought him such joy and inspired him to build and keep building for the future. Because of his busy travel schedule, Sam could not attend every school event of his children, but he made time to mentor them. When they were young his mentoring was about monitoring their behaviour and inculcating decent values. As they grew older, it was about their education and professional development. Sam loved going on trips with his family and regularly took the girls to Victoria Falls or to places like Bulawayo, Great Zimbabwe, Lake Kariba, Hwange National Park, South Africa, Beira and Chobe National Park.
Equal to Sam’s love for people was his love of ideas. By pulling together people and ideas, Sam created great value in the world. He was an institution builder who drew people to his cause. With Yemi Katerere, he had set up the Zimbabwe Environment Research Organisation (ZERO) while on the staff of the Zimbabwe Institute of Development Studies of the University of Zimbabwe. After the SAPES years with Ibbo Mandaza, Sam created the African Institute of Agrarian Studies and a recent great innovation was the establishment of Agrarian South journal. Sam’s engagement with Codesria was always pivotal and he valued deeply his relationship with scholars such as Thandika Mkandawire and Adebayo Olukoshi, not to mention the numerous South African scholars whom he visited and was visited by frequently. Among feminist scholars with whom Sam engaged during the 1990s, Elinor Batezat Sisulu, Patricia McFadden, Micere Mugo, Ama Ata Aidoo and Amina Mama were important figures. From his youthful days as a student in Sierra Leone during the Rhodesian era and later as a teacher in Nigeria, Sam continued to nurture relationships with like-minded intellectuals he had connected with outside his home environment, such as with the Trinidadian scholar David Johnson.
Sam’s talent for adding value put those who lived or worked with him under great pressure. Anyone who stepped into his home office would be put to work, researching issues, editing documents, staying up till 3am to ensure work would be submitted on time because Sam was always very professional about meeting his deadlines.
Sam’s kindness was legendary. He always extended a helping hand and would never reject any plea for assistance. There were weekend invitations for almost everyone he met and at Christmas he would invite development partners who had not been able to make it home. His kindness and his dynamism ensured that there were always people in our home, including many enduring friends who are mourning this week all over the world.
Sam and I enjoyed a fruitful marital and intellectual collaboration for many years. Though our marriage ran aground in the 2000s, we remained great friends, regularly in touch over our mutual interests, primarily the children and also, inevitably, the inexhaustible topic of the political economy of Africa.
Article taken from face book written By Dede Amanor .( Ex wife to the late Prof Moyo)
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