VP Chiwenga consoles Chanakira family

Sunday Mail Reporter

The liberation war credentials of  Major-General  Godfrey Chanakira (Retired)  are not in question and the ruling party, Zanu PF, will soon meet to deliberate on his hero status, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga said yesterday.

Rtd Maj-Gen Chanakira, who was Permanent Secretary in VP Chiwenga’s Office, succumbed to heart complications at West End Hospital on Thursday.

Responding to a request from the Chanakira family to grant Major General Chanakira hero status, VP Chiwenga said:

“His works, in service of his country, are there for all us to see. But we have internal processes in the party that we have to follow and a meeting will soon be held, that could be tomorrow or a day after, to see which honour is most consistent with his work.”

VP Chiwenga said he was shocked by the short illness and the subsequent death of Major-General Chanakira.

“I’m troubled as to what really happened because the last time we saw each other before I went to Indonesia where I was representing the President, he seemed well,” he said.

“When I came back on Saturday that’s when I heard that he wasn’t feeling well and he was admitted to the hospital. I was the Acting President when President Mnangagwa went to Switzerland and I couldn’t find the time to visit him. I’m really sad that he left us before I could visit him while he was not feeling well.”

VP Chiwenga described Major-General Chanakira as a brave soldier who left the country at a tender age to join the liberation struggle. “Major-General Chanakira was a really intelligent person as shown by our records. He left school in 1975 when he was doing Form Six at St Augustine’s High School. He was among scores of young people who left the country to join other liberation war fighters in Mozambique to liberate Zimbabwe from the colonial regime.”

VP Chiwenga said after the war, Rtd Maj-Gen Chanakira continued his hard work in the service of his country.

“After attaining our Independence he was integrated into the army where he rose through the ranks until 2018 when he retired and joined my office as Permanent Secretary. All along he continued with his studies because he was dedicated and intelligent too.”