Dedicated law man and educationalist dies

UCT law alumnus Professor Walter Kamba, an eminent educationalist and the first black vice-chancellor of the University of Zimbabwe, died on 22 May.

In an article in The Zimbabwe Herald, Kamba is remembered for his vision, which helped to transform the country's university education system. The article states that he dedicated his life to the development of skills in Zimbabwe and was one of the men who crafted the path to independence through his legal advice to the Patriotic Front at the 1979 Lancaster talks.

He was instrumental in transforming the University of Zimbabwe from a relatively "small, colonial university" into an institution serving the country and the region.

Kamba was born in Marondera 75 years ago. He obtained BA and LLB degrees from UCT and after serving his articles in Harare, he practised as an attorney in the country before moving to Yale University in the US where he completed an LLM.

At the time of his death Kamba was the Herbert Chitepo UNESCO Professor of Human Rights, Democracy, Peace and Governance at the University of Zimbabwe.

He was the founding dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Namibia where he was also professor of human rights.

Influential in matters of African education '“ he was a board member of the Centre for Higher Education Transformation in South Africa - Kamba also chaired the Council of the United Nations University.