Professor Sam Moyo reached the pinnacle of academia and stayed true to his vocation to the end.

As teenagers, we used to good-humouredly call him Sam ‘Mudzanga’ (because of his new-found love for smoking, “mudzanga” being the Shona word for cigarette) or Sam Kanhunzi (because of the dark mole by his nose which stood out in contrast to his very light complexion, “kanhunzi” being a small housefly or domestic fly). He was born with more than enough charisma, but he remained down-to-earth as he rose higher and higher.

Moyo was neither an Afro-pessimist with a colonial mentality hankering after servitude like a house nigger nor a hopeless optimist as to blind himself to the post-independence failings and evils like oppression and corruption. Moyo’s colleague Professor Ian Scoones encapsulated this in an obituary he wrote this week: “Sam has often been inaccurately pigeonholed as being on ‘one’ side or another . . . Whether inside the State and the party (Zanu PF), among opposition groups or with the World Bank and other donors, no one could ignore what Sam had to say.”

His free academic spirit could not be shackled by ideology and this made him “challenge oppression and exploitation in whatever form”.

Moyo did not erect barriers, but built bridges. He interacted with all sides — from the ruling party to various opposition formations.

Moyo, true to academia, adhered to highest standards of scientific analysis, earning himself a global reputation as an eminent scholar bringing real value to humankind.

What more can I really add except that a whole library has gone?

Rest in peace, Sam Mudzanga.

*Conway Nkumbuzo Tutani is a Harare-based columnist.