Online Reporter
Richard Muponde
Zimpapers Politics Hub
The Fallen Heroes Trust of Zimbabwe is set to rebury 36 Zipra war heroes, including 35 who have already been exhumed from Sanyati and Hurungwe.
In an interview, FHTZ chairman Dr Arthur Makanda said one of the cadres, Cde Venge, who was slain by Rhodesian forces in Hurungwe in 1978, will not be taken to a mortuary ahead of burial due to family traditions that prohibit lying in state in morgues.
“We are going to exhume him two days before the reburial, and then his remains will come to the Grand Parade Farm shrine where they will lie in state for the two days that we will be bringing those from Sanyati and Karoi Hospital in preparation for reburial,” Dr Makanda explained.
The reburial ceremony scheduled for October 18 and 19 will take place at the Grand Parade Farm in Hurungwe, where volunteers and spirit mediums have converged to assist with preparations.
The trust has already made significant progress, with bricks moulded for the construction of 36 graves and grave digging expected to commence by October 5.
By October 15, everything is expected to be in place, after the exhumation of Cde Venge and the ferrying of 29 cadres exhumed in Sanyati and six others from Karoi mortuary.
Dr Makanda emphasised the importance of respecting the wishes of the fallen heroes.
“As we interacted with Cde Venge, he indicated that he doesn’t want to be in the mortuary, every family has its own tradition, so their tradition I think is not in favour of going to the mortuary, so we will exhume him in two days,” said Dr Makanda.
He said they were experiencing more manifestations from slain cadres from both Zanla and Zipra, within and outside the country, who are pleading to be accorded decent burials.
“I think it’s time now that we rebury these 36 so that we can then start on another exercise to exhume other comrades,” he said. “As we are speaking now, we have a number of comrades who are manifesting and asking us to exhume them and rebury them.
“Even from our neighbouring countries, Mozambique and Zambia. We have had encounters with comrades who came to say, please don’t forget us, we also want to come back home so that we rest in the country that we fought for.”
Dr Makanda appealed for assistance to cover costs estimated at around US$28 000, which includes standard coffins, water, food and fuel for the gathering of approximately 600 people expected to witness the reburial.
“Like you are all aware of what we are doing, we are doing it as a voluntary organisation and we are not having funds from anywhere else, but we are now requesting from well-wishers to assist us with some contributions so that we can rebury these comrades decently. We are looking forward to buying standard coffins so that we give them decent reburials,” Dr Makanda said.
“We are looking forward to having some people assist us in getting some water, as we expect a gathering of plus or minus 600 that will witness the reburial, so we need things like food because we would want to feed the gathering.
“We also want a number of items that we are going to use, we are looking for fuel, we are looking for some money so that we can run certain errands that need to be put together, and then we rebury our comrades.”
He, however, said they will not accept all donations as the exercise is being led spiritually.
“People say a beggar is not a chooser, but in our asking for assistance, we are also at times choosy in that these matters are spiritual.
“We actually share with the comrades to say so and so is donating to us this much in kind, can we accept that gift because like I said it’s very spiritual and amongst the comrades that we are reburying some are coming from royal families and we just don’t use anything. We ask from them what exactly they would require so that they can be reburied.”
Chiefs from where the cadres originally came from when they left to go to the liberation struggle will be invited so that they can avail themselves or send a representative to do the reburials.
Mashonaland West Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Marian Chombo is expected to preside over the reburials, and also expected to be represented will be Zanu PF provincial chairman Cde Mary Mliswa-Chikoka, War Veterans leadership, Minister of War Veterans Senator Monica Mavhunga, Government officials and local residents.
A gun salute is also expected during the ceremony.
This initiative by FHTZ is part of a broader effort to exhume and rebury thousands of liberation war heroes who remain in unmarked mass graves across the country and beyond its borders.
The Government has drafted a landmark legal framework to facilitate the exhumation, repatriation and reburial of these heroes, emphasising the importance of memorialising the nation’s liberation struggle.
dyton mupawaenda