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Africa Moyo
Deputy News Editor
Everything is now in place for the burial of national hero Brigadier General Charles Kaneta at the National Heroes Acre today, with President Mnangagwa leading the mourners, Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe said yesterday.
In an interview, Minister Kazembe said: “All is set for the burial and all preparations are on course. We expect people to start arriving from 8am, then Ministers and Members of Parliament will start coming in from 9am.”
People in Brig Gen Kaneta’s rural home of Munyuku Village in Honde Valley, Hauna, in Manicaland, were given a chance to bid farewell to their distinguished son.
Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Nokuthula Matsikenyere, praised President Mnangagwa for giving Brig Gen Kaneta the highest honour in the land.
“We really want to thank President Mnangagwa and Government for the befitting national hero status bestowed upon the late Brigadier General Charles Kaneta,” she said on Thursday. “No doubt, Brigadier General Kaneta deserves to be laid to rest at the national shrine because of the selfless sacrifice he made in his lifetime for his country.
“Today, the people of Honde Valley and Manicaland in general feel honoured because one of their own has been given the highest honour of national hero status. We really want to show our appreciation for that.”
Relatives, friends and neighbours in his rural home described Brig Gen Kaneta as a humble man who never bragged about his military credentials.
The body of the national hero returned to Harare yesterday and was then taken to Salvation Army Dzivarasekwa Citadel for a church service.
Brig Gen Kaneta died on September 10 after collapsing at his farm in Nyanga. He was rushed to Hauna District Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
He was 64.
Brig-Gen Kaneta was the director general logistics at the Zimbabwe Defence Forces Headquarters.
In his condolence message, President Mnangagwa said he learnt with shock and sadness the death of Brig Gen Kaneta.
The President said Brig Gen Kaneta’s death was painful and difficult to accept as he did not show any signs of being unwell, and was on a routine visit to his rural home.
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“The passing on of Brigadier General Kaneta, whose Chimurenga name was Santana Tongai, is a great loss to our nation, and to our Defence Force whose crop of wartime field commanders is gradually being whittled down,” said President Mnangagwa.
Brig-Gen Kaneta joined the liberation struggle in 1975 in Mozambique as a young man. He was a graduate of the Nanjing Military Academy in China, as well as a beneficiary of specialised military training in Syria.
President Mnangagwa said Brig-Gen Kaneta’s contribution to the liberation struggle “stands out in our annals of liberation history”.
Brig Gen Kaneta has been described as a tough and brilliant military instructor through whose hands passed many cadres, including senior Zanu PF officials such as the late national hero Cde Herbert Ushewokunze, the late Cde Crispen Mandizvidza and Dr Sydney Sekeramayi.
Following his attestation in 1981 into the integrated Zimbabwe National Army, Brig-Gen Kaneta had an illustrious military career, rising through the ranks to become a brigadier general.
He is survived by wife his Nancy and three children.
Online Reporter