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1150: President Mnangagwa has finished his address. Fr Ribeiro will now be carried to his final resting place.
1140: “The decision to honour him in this way was befitting and unanimous. You have given us one of your own so that we bury him with his fellow compatriots. He followed the steps of Jesus Christ by helping the poor,”
1138: “He was and remains special in our hearts, I am personally pained by his demise, allow me to say thank you for being a servant of God.”
1136: President Mnangagwa is now addressing the mourners. He says a dark cloud hovers over the Roman Catholic church and the nation at large.
“We mourn a great son of the soil.”
1134: “We saw a musician Oliver Mtukudzi being declared a national hero, we saw Soul Jah Luv and Anne Nhira being declared heroes and for the first time in the history of this country we are seeing a man of God being buried here at the Heroes Acre, indeed we are seeing Zimbabwe being built brick by brick and stone by stone under President Mnangagwa’s leadership,” says Home Affairs Minister Kazembe Kazembe.
1127: “As a family we would like the Government and in particular the President for conferring hero status to Sekuru, we preferred that he be buried at the Chishawasha cemetery but we had to take a balanced decision considering the role Sekuru played in the liberation struggle. Sekuru’s life touched the souls of many Zimbabweans. We used to call him Hondo, he said Hondo was not for the war but for peace,” says Family representative Dr Onsimo Dare.
1120: “We are told he smuggled information in and out of prison, he smuggled the late President Mugabe and also saved the current President, he was a balanced cleric. He teaches us to be united in our diversity. The church has lost a solid composer, he composed more than 17 songs which are still popular to this day,” said Deputy Vicar General Kennedy Muguti.
1111: President Mnangagwa has just arrived at the National Heroes Acre for the internment of Fr Emmanuel Ribeiro.
1055: Meanwhile, the cortege has arrived with clerics donning flowing white robs waiting to receive the body of their fellow clergyman, the late Fr Emmanuel Ribeiro, a man of many talents who died last Thursday.
1045: Vice President Chiwenga has arrived.
1043: Zanu PF Vice President Kembo Mohadi has just arrived at the national shrine.
0957: The hearse carrying Fr Ribeira has now left Highfield where a mass was held heading for burial at the National Heroes Acre.
0954: Meanwhile, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga has commended Roman Fr Ribeiro for making valuable contributions both for the spiritual being of people and in the country’s liberation.
He said Fr Ribeira, who is set to be buried at the national heroes acre today, helped in saving President Mnangagwa from the hangman’s noose for his contribution in the fight for the liberation struggle.
VP Chiwenga said Fr Ribeira had also driven former President Mugabe and nationalist Cde Edgar Tekere to cross the border in Mozambique where they were due to lead in the fight for the liberation struggle.
VP Chiwenga was addressing mourners this morning at St Mary’s Queen of Peace Highfield parish where a mass for the national hero was held.
0953: We are at the National Heroes Acre for the burial of hero Fr Emmanuel Ribeiro. People are slowly trickling in to witness the burial in strict observance of Covid-19 protocols. The few mourners are being tested for Covid-19 before entry.
Online Reporter