Dunn Mabika Hove

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Dunn (Chemist) Mabika Hove, also known as Paris Checherere (July 14, 1959 - February 27, 2007) was a Zimbabwean military intelligence officer who was one of the leaders of ZANLA, Robert Mugabe's guerrilla forces during the Rhodesian Bush War. A career soldier, in post-independence Zimbabwe, he went on to have a successful career in the Zimbabwe National Army, serving with distinction in UN and AU led peace keeping missions across Africa.
Personal life
He was born in 1959 in Mberengwa district of the Midlands Province. Colonel Mabika Hove was educated up to Form 4 at Chegato High School in Mberengwa together with the likes of Major General Trust Mugoba Chief-of-Staff (Administration) and Quartermaster of the Zimbabwe National Army. Other notable school mates inlcude Misheck Zhou, Runesu Tofa, Phineas Makhurane, the late politician Byron Hove, Eleck Mashingaidze and the late MDC Secretary for Economic Affairs, Industry and Commerce Dr. Mfandaidza Hove.
Rhodesian Bush War/Second Chimurenga
He joined the war in 1976 and was trained in Mozambique at as a ZANLA militant. The circumstances surrounding his joining the ZANLA training camps in Mozambique made him a larger than life character, especially in his home area of Mberengwa. He and Mberengwa (ZANU PF) Councilor Misheck Zhou are alleged to have walked from Chiredzi, through the dangerous Gonarezhou National Park for 5 days without supplies (packed food or water). They are said to have used a combination of map reading techniques learnt in school and intuition as they persevered to reach the crossing of the Lundi and Sabi rivers, late December 1976.
It was during training in Mozambique that Dunn (Chemist) Mabika Hove adopted the war name of Paris Checherere. He quickly rose through the ranks to become one of the operational commanders in the Gaza province which was led by General Constantine Chiwenga (who was Provincial Commander), the current commander of the Zimbabwe Defence forces and Retired Brigadier General (Judge Advocate General) George Chiweshe (who was the Provincial Commissar), now Judge President of Zimbabwe. Other operational commanders in Gaza provinces include the late national hero Brigadier General Charles Tigwe Gumbo.
In Gaza, Paris Checherere led numerous acts of sabotage on key Rhodesian forces installations. There are also stories of clashes and battles with Rhodesian forces where the platoons he commanded were victorious. However, what endeared him to the villagers in his home area of Mberengwa was how his troops protected the villages during periods when they were continuously harassed by the Rhodesian forces for their support of the guerrilla fighters.
By the end of 1978 there were about 11,000 ZANLA troops operating in Rhodesia and over half of these had been deployed through Mocambique's Gaza Province into the South East area of Rhodesia known as 'The Russian Front', At the end of the Second Chimurenga or Rhodesian bush war, Paris Chererere joined many other ZANLA and ZAPU fighters at assembly points, ready to start life in a new Zimbabwe
Career in the Zimbabwe military
Integration
In 1981 Paris Checherere was attested to the newly-formed Zimbabwe National Army as a captain in the Corps of Intelligence. Following majority rule in April 1980 and the cantonment of the ZANLA and ZIPRA under Operation Agila, Lt General Solomon Mujuru with assistance from British Army trainers (the British Military Advisory and Training Team, BMATT) oversaw the integration of guerrilla fighters into one unified army,.
A battalion structure was overlaid on the existing Rhodesian Army. Although in theory, guerrillas were supposed to integrate into the unified Zimbabwe National Army based on merit, in practice the process has been reported to have have been politicised resulting in some senior ZANLA guerrilla attesting at lower ranks than their juniors. Part of this was to ensure a balance between the two movements (ZIPRA and ZANLA) in the command structure but tribal and regional politics played a major role. It has been noted that by the mid-1980s, ZANLA/ZANU fighters formed the majority of battalion and platoon commanders in the ZNA and some senior former guerrilla commanders were surboniate to well-placed juniors. Despite these criticisms, the army integration has been deemed to have been highly successful given the highly volatile political environment at the time.
Peacekeeping
Col Mabika Hove was not a controversial military figure and he remained an apolitical during his professional career. This is partly why he was greatly admired by many in the Corps of Intelligence and the ZNA in general. Current commander of Zimbabwe National Army Lt. General Philip Valerio Sibanda characterised him as an extremely intelligent, calm, firm but compassionate leader. He was especially known for being a diplomat par excellence and was involved in most of the Zimbabwe National Army’s foreign peace keeping missions. Some of these include;
- Angolan Civil War; 1991-1995 United Nations Angola Verification Mission II (UNAVEM II)
- Mozambican Civil War; 1992-1994 United Nations Operation in Mozambique (ONUMOZ)
- Somali Civil War; 1992-1993 United Nations Operation in Somalia I (UNOSOM I)
- Somali Civil War; 1993-1995 United Nations Operation in Somalia II (UNOSOM II)
Democratic Republic of the Congo
In 1998, Col Mabika Hove was one of the advisors sent by Robert Mugabe to assist President Laurent Kabila as the Second Congo War, also known as Coltan War, or the Great War of Africa gained momentum. His main function was to strengthen the allied forces’ (Zambia, Chad, Sudan, Angola and Zimbabwe) intelligence capacity and he was dubbed “Chief Spy.” The war was not only the largest war in modern African history, but it was the deadliest conflict worldwide since World War II killing more than 5.4 million people. Col Mabika Hove was especially instrumental in the effort to establish stability in the aftermath of the assassination of Laurent Kabila on 16 January 2001.
Later years
He later returned home when the war officially ended in July 2003 to head the Zimbabwe’s National Army’s main School of Military Intelligence at Kabrit in Harare. He was later appointed director of the Ministry of Defence’s Mapping and Research division (intelligence) and was subsequently seconded to the Ministry of Lands to provide security sector oversight on the land reform programme (Third Chimurenga). Col Mabika Hove also benefited from the programme and was offered an uncontested lot of the Central Estates donated to government by businessman Nick van Hoogstraten.
Death
Dunn Mabika Hove ‘‘Paris Checherere’’ died in the early hours of the morning of February 27, 2007 aged 47. He had throughout his military career, particularly the DRC war developed a number of ailments including diabetes and heart disease. He died in a diabetic coma in a private clinic in Craneborne, Harare. Even though former guerrilla fighters in Zimbabwe’s Midlands province (Gaza province where he had operated during the struggle) put up a fight to have him buried in the province, the Government of Zimbabwe declared him a Liberation War Hero and he was buried at the heroes’ acre in Harare.
He is survived by his wife, Grace and three children, Fidelis, Tinashe and Tsitsi.

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