Online Reporter
Remember Deketeke and Alicia Kadzviti
NATIONAL hero Brigadier-General (Retired) Mpandasekwa Mzheri will be laid to rest at the National Heroes Acre on Monday, with President Mnangagwa expected to preside over the proceedings.
In an interview yesterday, Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe confirmed the development.
“Burial of the national hero Brigadier-General (Retired) Mpandasekwa Mzheri is set for Monday, with President Mnangagwa expected to preside over the proceedings. The body will be airlifted from the Manyame Airbase tomorrow (today) to his hometown of Mberengwa and is expected back on Sunday afternoon,” he said.
Brig-Gen Mzheri, whose Chimurenga name was Khetani Khanye, passed away on Tuesday at a medical facility in Harare following a long illness. He was 75.
He was declared a national hero on Thursday evening. Earlier that day, a funeral parade was held in his honour at Charles Gumbo Barracks in Harare.
Commander of the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA), Lieutenant-General Emmanuel Matatu, urged Zimbabweans to defend the country’s independence and sovereignty at all costs, as a way of honouring the sacrifices made by illustrious sons and daughters of the soil such as Brig-Gen Mzheri.
“As we pay our last respects to the late gallant son of the soil, we must not forget the sacrifices he and other heroes and heroines made for the freedom of our motherland, Zimbabwe. We must defend what they stood and fought for — Zimbabwe’s independence and sovereignty — at all costs,” said Lt-Gen Matatu at the funeral parade.
Brig-Gen Mzheri was part of the pioneering generation of military officers who laid the foundation for the modern ZNA.
“General Mzheri was among the first crop of senior and general officers in the ZNA. These senior and general officers managed the integration process at the formation of the ZNA and, while it was still in its infancy, deployed and commanded its formations on operations in Mozambique to safeguard our strategic lifeline through that country.
“They laid the foundation upon which ZNA operational concepts were developed. They laid the foundation upon which the ZNA grew into a formidable force, excelling internationally on United Nations peacekeeping operations and on Operation Sovereign Legitimacy in the DRC, doing the nation proud and gaining the respect of our allies and foes,” said Lt-Gen Matatu.
Brig-Gen Mzheri was born on March 7, 1950 in Mberengwa District, Midlands Province. He participated in the Lancaster House peace talks in 1979 as a military advisor. At independence, he was one of the first 18 ex-combatants to be attested into the Zimbabwe National Army as a Colonel on April 16, 1981, becoming the first Commandant at Inkomo Garrison.
Throughout his decorated military career, he held several key positions, including Commander 3 Infantry Brigade, Commander Special Task Force Mozambique, and Director General Defence Policy, Public Relations and Protocol, before retiring on July 31, 1999.
Brig-Gen Mzheri was decorated with several medals, among them the Liberation Medal, Independence Medal, Ten Years’ Service Medal, Long and Exemplary Service Medal, Mozambique Campaign Medal, and the Grand Officer of the Zimbabwe Order of Merit Award for his distinguished service to the nation.
He is survived by his wife and four children: Anesu, Ropafadzai, Tinashe, and Khanye.
