Online Reporter
Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, [email protected]
THE body of the late National Hero, Brigadier-General (Rtd) Samuel Mpabanga, has arrived at his rural home in Mapate Village in Gwanda South, where relatives and friends have gathered to pay their last respects.
Brig-Gen Mpabanga died at Gwanda Provincial Hospital on Monday last week after a long illness.
He was 69.
President Mnangagwa conferred Brig-Gen (Rtd) Mpabanga with National Hero status on Saturday.
Among those who have gathered at his homestead to bid farewell to the late National Hero is the chief mourner, the Minister of State for Matabeleland South Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Honourable Albert Nguluvhe, service chiefs, Zanu PF leadership, family members, community members and traditional leaders, among others.
The remains of the National Hero are expected back in Bulawayo at 3pm, where they will lie in state at Doves Funeral Parlour.
On Tuesday, the body of the late National Hero will be airlifted to Charles Gumbo Barracks, where it will lie in state ahead of burial on a date yet to be announced.
Brig-Gen (Rtd) Mpabanga, whose Chimurenga name was Moffat Nkomo, was a respected liberation war veteran and senior military officer.
Born on August 31, 1956, in Gwanda, he attended Mapate Primary School and Beitbridge Primary School from 1963 to 1970, before proceeding to Manama Mission (1971 to 1972) and Matobo Secondary School from 1973 to 1974.
He crossed the border to join the liberation struggle as a ZIPRA cadre in 1977 and briefly stayed at Mapate before crossing the Shashe River with his colleagues en route to Selibe Phikwe in Botswana.
The late Brig-Gen (Rtd) Mpabanga stayed at Selibe Phikwe Prison for three months with his uncle, the late Raphel Mpabanga, Martin Kukubele and the late Sibusiso Mpabanga.
He started military training in late 1977 at Mulungushi under the Zambian Army, with attachments from ZIPRA, including the late Cephas Khupe and the late Gedi Dube.
From 1978 to 1979, he went for further military training in Odessa, Russia, then part of the Soviet Union.
The late senior army officer joined the Zimbabwe National Army on July 12, 1980, and retired from active service on August 31, 2022.
He also served as a defence attaché at the country’s Embassy in Zambia between 2016 and 2022. While in Zambia, he oversaw the management and upkeep of liberation war shrines where scores of Zimbabwe’s heroes and heroines are buried.
He is survived by his wife and three children.
