dyton mupawaenda
Curtworth Masango
FORMER Young Warriors and Masvingo United midfielder Andrew Raelo’s relatives are seeking financial assistance to repatriate his body from Mozambique.
He passed away on Friday after a short illness.
In Zimbabwe, he had a short stint with Harare United and Masvingo United before he moved to Mozambique. He was also called up for the national Under-17 and 20 national teams, which comprised players like Khama Billiat, Knowledge Musona, Tafadzwa Rusike, Dominic Mukandi, and Martin Vengesayi.
Raelo was now based in Mozambique where he was playing for an army side based in Chimoio.
In Mozambique, he made his name while playing for Club Ferroviario where he reached the CAF Champions League quarter-final in 2017, and also played for clubs like UD Songo.
Due to shortcomings in his paperwork, authorities could not clear his body, and is currently in a local mortuary in Mutare.Raelo’s brother-in-law, Clay Muzuva appealed to the nation.
“His team escorted us to Machimapanda border post on Sunday. Everything went well on the Mozambican side as we got ourselves cleared but the biggest challenge came on the Zimbabwean side.
“So after spending some time on the border the team then left and returned to Mozambique leaving the body with us.
“But when we did further inquiries with our authorities we were told to go back to Mozambique and do his paperwork for him to be eligible to be buried here. So, for the paperwork to be done there is a need of US$1 000 to facilitate the process and that’s where the major challenge came in.
“We don’t have the money to do that and we are kindly asking the people of Zimbabwe to come and help us to those who can.”
Mourners are gathered at 1012 Old Tafara.
Online Reporter