Aguy Clement Georgias (born Aguy Zvavahera Ushe; 22 June 1935 – 19 December 2015) was a

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

an businessman and politician. He was the founder of Trinity Engineering and served as Deputy Minister of Public Works as well as the Deputy Minister Economic Development. He was born in Unyetu-Mutomba Village in Chivhu, Zimbabwe in 1935. He was the eldest son of James Ushe Shoniwa, and had ancestry from the Mutekedza Chieftainship of

Chikomba District Chikomba is a district of Zimbabwe. It was previously part of Midlands Province, but was delimited to fall under Mashonaland East Province in the 1990s. Notable people * Chenjerai Hunzvi, politician and war veterans leader *Solomon Mujuru, ar ...

. He was associated with the Mhofu Totem. In his youth, he moved from Chivu to

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

, where he changed his name to Aguy Clement Georgias. After his death, his brother Herbert Ushe suggested the change was intended to conceal his Shona ancestry and present himself as a member of the

Coloureds Coloureds ( af, Kleurlinge or , ) refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in Southern Africa who may have ancestry from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, European, and Asian. South ...

community, possibly for economic reasons. In 2007, Georgias and his company Trinity Engineering were placed on the European Union (EU) sanctions list, under a 2002 EU provision that prohibited "entry into or transit through the territory of the EU" for members of the Zimbabwean Government. Georgias was deported from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

as a result. In 2012, he sued the EU for €6 million in damages for the imposition of the sanctions. The EU General Court dismissed the case in 2014. At the time of his death he was a non-constituency Senator (presumably representing the

community). He died of

heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...

and

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

on 19 December 2015 at AMI Hospital in

. He was declared a national hero by the government of Robert Mugabe, who stated in his eulogy for Georgias that Georgias had spent "every cent he owned" fighting the EU sanctions on Zimbabwe's government. As a result, he was buried at the National Heroes' Acre. Georgias's relatives claimed they were snubbed by the Mugabe government with regards to Georgias' funeral. The family expressed discontent that the Mugabe government recognized Georgias's second wife Jane and Georgias's children with her, rather than his first wife Manana. They also claimed that Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) agents forced them to attend the state funeral, which they had intended to boycott.

Personal life

At the time of his death, Georgias had eleven children and sixteen grandchildren. His nephew Carlton Ushe stated that Georgias's five oldest children were born to a woman of

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

origin from Gweru. Her name is not known and they were not married. In 1977, he married Manana Esther Georgias. After his death, Manana stated that their marriage produced no children. However, in 2017, Manana was described as the mother of Georgias's son Antony. It is not clear from the article if he is her step-son or her biological son. Georgias later entered a relationship with Jane Linda Georgias, with whom he had five children. There is some dispute as to whether this relationship was a legal marriage - some sources have referred to Jane as Georgias's wife, but the official status of their relationship has been disputed by Georgias's relatives, including his first wife Manana, after his death.

Legacy

Everson Mushava, writing for the ''Standard Newspaper'', equated Aguy's self-denial of identity to Ngoni, a character created for a popular novel in the

Shona language Shona (; sn, chiShona) is a Bantu language of the Shona people of Zimbabwe. It was codified by the colonial government in the 1950s. According to ''Ethnologue'', Shona, comprising the Zezuru, Korekore and Karanga dialects, is spoken by about 7 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Georgias, Guy Zimbabwean politicians Living people 1935 births