Online Reporter
Trust Freddy and Ray Bande
ALL is set for the burial of national heroine, Air Vice Marshal (Retired) Winnie Mandeya, today at the National Heroes Acre, with President Mnangagwa expected to preside over proceedings.
Mourners are expected to be seated by 7am.
This comes barely a few days after the double burial of Retired Brigadier-General Victor Rungani and former President’s Department director, Cde Walter Basopo, at the national shrine.
Rtd Air Vice Marshal Mandeya, who died on Monday morning, will join 16 other heroines who lie buried at the National Heroes Arce
She was 64.
Her body was flown to Mutanzi Village in Goromonzi District yesterday morning, and later to Tazvinzwa Primary School in Chiendambuya, her birthplace in Manicaland Province, for farewell ceremonies, before being flown back to Harare ahead of today’s burial.
Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, Ambassador Raphael Faranisi, confirmed yesterday that the national heroine will be interred today at the National Heroes Acre.
“Air Vice Marshal (Rtd) Winnie Mandeya will be laid to rest tomorrow (today) at the National Heroes Acre. His Excellency, the President, Cde Dr ED Mnangagwa will preside over the burial.
“Her body has been airlifted to her rural home in Chendambuya today, after which it will then be flown back to Harare and lie in state at Charles Gumbo Barracks before the burial tomorrow (today).”
This comes as Manicaland Province has described Air Vice Marshal Mandeya as a humble figure in the community who will be remembered for her love for her rural Matare Village home area, which saw her spearheading the construction of a clinic last year.
Manicaland Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Advocate Misheck Mugadza thanked President Mnangagwa for bestowing a befitting national heroine status on the Retired Air Vice Marshal.
“We are gathered here for a sad episode in our lives. We are thankful to the Mandeya family for giving us your daughter, who fought in the liberation struggle together with her colleagues.
“We are short of words to describe how one of the illustrious daughters of the nation has been snatched away. This is not an ordinary loss. She was a great example of military prowess.
“While mourning the sad departure of our dear Rtd Air Vice Marshal, we thank President Mnangagwa for declaring her a national heroine. As His Excellency the President Dr Emmerson Mnangagwa says, no one should be left behind and no place should be left behind either. We bear testimony to this as we see the true meaning of this philosophy.
“Born and bred in our humble Matare Village here in Chendambuya, this rare breed of female commander walked the highest corridors of military power and we are therefore grateful, once more, that she has received the highest honour of national heroine,” Adv Mugadza said.
Family representative, Mai Norah Eline Muzorewa, said: “I am really thankful for this gesture shown to us by the Government and people here in Matare Village and the nation at large in our moment of mourning. We are thankful to President Mnangagwa for giving this kind of respect not only to the departed Air Vice Marshal (Rtd) but to us all as a family. The departed soul was a loving daughter in the family.
“She unified people in the family, in the church and in the community. She was a mentor in the whole family. I want to say go well, Winnie, you fought a good fight.”
Interviewees during a church service held at her rural homestead yesterday said the departed heroine was humility personified.
War veteran representative Cde Jonathan Mataga bemoaned the loss of eminent figures of the liberation war that hail from the area.
“It is sad that we continue losing our war veterans in this area.
We have gathered here barely four, five months, when we lost former Governor Chigudu and not so long ago we also lost Brigadier General Chigudu. Now we are gathered here witnessing the loss of yet another war veteran.
“It is painful for us as veterans of the liberation war. We are thankful to President Mnangagwa for the befitting national hero status bestowed on our departed colleague,” he said.
Matare Village head Robert Matare said: “Air Vice Marshal (Mandeya) grew up here and went to join the liberation war. After gaining independence she went on to serve in the Air Force.
She was a caring person. She mixed and mingled with villagers here without showing that she was a high ranking Government official.
“She helped us to start meaningful progress in the construction of a local clinic. We spent 40 years trying to construct this clinic but her intervention last year had started to bear fruit, after completing the paperwork and plan but now she is gone.
We get medical services at Nyamusosa Clinic, which is more than 20km away.”
Born on July 14, 1960, in Rusape, Air Vice Marshal (Rtd) Mandeya’s journey was marked by ground-breaking achievements.
She was declared a national heroine on Wednesday, and Zanu-PF national political commissar, Cde Munyaradzi Machacha, delivered the message to her family, stating that the Government was ready to inter her at the National Heroes Acre alongside other heroes and heroines.
A liberation war heroine and seasoned officer, AVM Mandeya, joined the liberation struggle on September 29, 1975, undergoing basic military training at Nachingweya in Tanzania.
She was subsequently deployed to Gaza Province where she operated until 1978 before being selected for a nursing course.
Following Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, AVM Mandeya initially served in the President’s Department, actively participating in the 1981 Commission of Inquiry into missing persons.
She later transferred to the Air Force of Zimbabwe on July 1, 1984, where she served with distinction until her retirement.
She was one of the survivors of the infamous Chimoio attack.
In 2022, her decades of dedicated service were recognised when President Mnangagwa promoted her to the rank of Air Vice Marshal, a position equivalent to Major General in the Zimbabwe National Army.
She became the first woman in the Zimbabwe Defence Forces to attain this rank, equivalent to Major General.
Rtd Air Vice Marshal Mandeya, who died on Monday morning, joins 17 other heroines, who are buried at the National Heroes Acre.
She is survived by her son, Valentine Mandeya.
