Online Reporter
Richard Muponde in Hurungwe
Zimpapers Politics Hub
THE long-awaited reburial of 36 Zipra liberation war heroes, which was scheduled for October 18 and 19 at Grand Parade Farm in Hurungwe, has been postponed to early December following consultations among spirit mediums, volunteers and the Fallen Heroes Trust of Zimbabwe (FHTZ).
The decision was reached on Friday evening after an assessment meeting at the Grand Parade shrine in Hurungwe, where the Trust and spirit mediums agreed to defer the event to avoid clashing with the ongoing 22nd Zanu PF National People’s Conference and to respect the sacred month of November.
FHTZ chairman, Dr Arthur Makanda confirmed the development in Hurungwe on Saturday, saying the postponement came after consultations with both the living and the spirit world of the fallen heroes.
“From Friday evening, we were gathered at Grand Parade to assess progress in preparation for the reburials,” said Dr Makanda.
“We realised that the scheduled dates of October 18 and 19 coincide with the Zanu PF National People’s Conference, which is a major national event. In our interactions with the comrades, including spirit manifestations, we agreed that it would appear as if we were competing with the party’s programme. We then proposed to move it to a later date.”
He explained that November, considered a sacred month in traditional Shona and Ndebele culture when important ceremonies are discouraged, made December the earliest possible window for the reburials.
“After further discussions with the comrades, I spoke to five of them, including Cdes Solomon, Stanley, Chop Chop, Zifas and Rangarirai Banda, we all agreed that November is a sacred month,” said Dr Makanda.
“Yes, if someone dies in November, they are buried, but this case is special because some of those we are reinterring come from royal families. Therefore, we resolved to respect both the party calendar and our traditional customs by shifting the reburials to early December. Preparations, however, will continue.”
The FHTZ has been working tirelessly to exhume and prepare for the dignified reburial of the fallen Zipra cadres, 35 of whom have already been exhumed from Sanyati and Hurungwe, while another, Cde Venge, is set to be exhumed two days before burial in accordance with family traditions that prohibit mortuary stays.
The Trust has completed moulding bricks for 36 graves, secured a well to provide water at the shrine, and procured 15 burial suits, with the remainder expected to be ready before December. Transport logistics for the remains from Karoi and Kadoma mortuaries have also been finalised.
Dr Makanda said the new plan also includes the addition of two more cadres, sons of fallen fighters known as Cdes Nkululeko and Mdodana, bringing the total number of heroes to be reburied to 38.
“We agreed that Cde Nkululeko and one other comrade, Cde Khumalo, would be exhumed and form part of the group that we are reinterring,” he said. “Their burial orders are already secured, and we are applying for their declarations as war heroes so that by the time of reburial, their status will be formally recognised.”
Dr Makanda added that the postponement would give the Trust time to continue mobilising resources for the ceremony, which is expected to attract around 600 people, including Government officials, traditional leaders and war veterans.
“We are a voluntary organisation and still appealing to well-wishers for assistance,” he said. “We need fuel, food, coffins, and other essentials. While some donations have come, we remain careful — we consult the comrades spiritually before accepting any gifts because this is a sacred process involving royal lineages and the spirits of liberation fighters.”
He also revealed that spirit interactions during the meeting brought new revelations of more unmarked graves, including a mass grave near Chirundu believed to contain 53 combatants and two Chimbwidos from Zambia.
“One of the comrades, Solomon, told us about the Chirundu mass grave. We have agreed to visit the site after the sacred month to conduct traditional rites and begin planning for their exhumation and reburial,” said Dr Makanda.
The Hurungwe reburial programme, to be presided over by Mashonaland West Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister, Cde Marian Chombo, is part of a broader national initiative to exhume and rebury liberation war heroes who remain in unmarked mass graves within and beyond Zimbabwe’s borders. The Government is finalising a legal framework to guide exhumations, repatriations, and reburials, ensuring that all freedom fighters are finally honoured with dignity.
“Our mission continues,” Dr Makanda concluded.
“We are guided by the spirits of the heroes themselves, who keep manifesting to remind us that Zimbabwe’s independence came at a heavy price, and that no hero must remain forgotten.”-@muponderichard
