MUZENDA — The Soul of the Nation | Zimbabwe's First Deputy Prime Minister (Full Documentary)

Carpenter, prisoner, organiser, kingmaker: the life of Simon Vengai Muzenda (1922 – 2003), the man who stood beside Robert Mugabe for half a century.

He started school at fourteen, trained as a carpenter at Mariannhill, went to prison for a prayer, backed Mugabe in the 1975 leadership crisis, lost a daughter at Chimoio and became Zimbabwe's first deputy prime minister. To the ruling party he was Mzee, the Soul of the Nation; to his critics, the most loyal servant of a government that turned on its people. This fact-checked film tells both stories from the records.

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CHAPTERS
0:00 Cold open — the poem
2:03 Part One — A Boy From Gutu
5:00 Part Two — The Dancer Who Went To School
7:48 Part Three — The Road South
10:12 Part Four — The Carpenter Of Bulawayo
14:05 Part Five — The Prayer They Banned
18:34 Part Six — The Split
20:39 Part Seven — A Place Of Study
24:10 Part Eight — Political Suicide
26:46 Part Nine — The Bomb In Lusaka
29:42 Part Ten — Across The Border
32:11 Part Eleven — Chimoio
33:57 Part Twelve — Lancaster House
37:23 Part Thirteen — Deputy Prime Minister
42:36 Part Fourteen — The Shooting In Gweru
44:50 Part Fifteen — Mzee
48:11 Part Sixteen — The Land
52:20 Part Seventeen — The Last Months
56:25 Part Eighteen — Two Verdicts
1:01:00 Credits

SOURCES: Ngwabi Bhebe (2004) via The Sunday Mail · The Herald · Nehanda Radio · The Guardian (Andrew Meldrum, 23 Sep 2003) · The Scotsman · The Daily Telegraph · Mail & Guardian · CPJ · US Federal Register · Pindula · Wikipedia.
ARCHIVE (short excerpts for review, criticism and biography): AP Archive, British Pathé, British Movietone, Huntley Film Archives, Kinolibrary, Thames TV, VOA, ZBC News, Zimpapers and other channels · Opening: Simon Muzenda reciting 'Nehanda Nyakasikana' (SlyMediaTv upload).
Narration: AI voice (Kokoro). Music: the Upright Films house soundtrack, an original roots-reggae instrumental. Maps: Natural Earth. Produced by Upright Films.
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