PRESIDENT Mnangagwa is today expected to preside over the triple burial of national heroes, Cdes Nash Nyasha Dzimiri, Tsitsi Grace Jadagu and Brigadier-General Shadreck Vezha, at the National Heroes Acre, the second ceremony of its kind since independence in 1980.
Multitudes of people are expected to throng the national shrine, with transport having been mobilised from all provinces to afford people the opportunity to bid farewell to the national heroes.
The first triple burial was witnessed in 2021, when the then Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Lieutenant General Sibusiso Busi Moyo, Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Dr Joel Biggie Matiza and former Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services Commissioner-General Major-General Paradzai Zimondi were interred on the same day.
All died of Covid-19-related complications.
Yesterday, church services were held in honour of the three departed national heroes.
The memorial service for Cde Dzimiri was at his Mt Pleasant house, while that of Cde Jadangu was held in Chitungwiza. Brig-Gen Vezha’s service was held at Charles Gumbo Barracks (formerly One Commando Barracks) in Harare.
The respective families were at Charles Gumbo Barracks yesterday for formalities, where the bodies of the three national heroes lay in State ahead of burial today.
Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe said all was in place for the triple burial, with the programme scheduled to start earlier than usual.
“We expect mourners and dignitaries to be seated by 7am. President Mnangagwa will preside over the burials,” he said.
Minister Kazembe said Vice-Presidents Dr Constantino Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi, as well as the Zanu-PF national chairman Cde Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, were also expected to be in attendance.
He said just like other national events, everyone was welcome to attend, including members of opposition political parties and the diplomatic corps.
Cde Dzimiri was born on June 24, 1958, in Shurugwi and died on April 16 after a short illness, while Brig-Gen Vezha died in a road traffic accident on the same day.
Cde Dzimiri joined the liberation struggle in 1976.
He survived Rhodesian raids that killed thousands of comrades at both Nyadzonia and Chimoio camps in 1976 and 1977, respectively.
He was later selected to undertake security and intelligence training at the famous Nanking Military Academy in China.
At independence, he was attested into the Air Force of Zimbabwe, before being transferred to the Zimbabwe National Army, which he left in 1981.
In 1983, while taking a walk in Harare, he had a chance meeting with President Mnangagwa, who was the then Minister of State Security.
He was subsequently recruited to join the intelligence service as a junior officer.
At the time of his death, he was the Central Intelligence Organisation’s director for investments.
Brig-Gen Vezha was born on August 10, 1961, in Chivi District.
After writing his O-level examinations, he joined the liberation struggle as a Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) combatant and was trained at the front.
During the ceasefire in 1979, he was based at Dzapasi Assembly Point Base 2, where he underwent further military training.
In early January 1980, he was nominated to travel to North Korea for further military training at Kim Chong Ju Military Academy and Kim II Sung Military University until 1982.
On completion of military training in North Korea, he returned home and was attested into the Zimbabwe National Army on August 1, 1982.
He rose through the ranks to become Brigadier-General in 2018.
Cde Jadagu, who was born on March 11, 1943, in Murewa, succumbed to a short illness on April 18, the day the nation was celebrating its 44th independence anniversary.
She first trained as a police officer and later became a teacher.
During the liberation struggle, she was a war collaborator and after independence, she served as councillor for Ward 16 in Chitungwiza.
She was subsequently appointed special interest councillor in 2013 and senator in 2014.
Cde Jadagu started her political career when she was 17 years old in Mangwende Village, where her uncle (father’s brother) was a chief and an active member of ZAPU.
During the time, her family, led by Chief Mangwende, had a conflict with the Rhodesian native commissioner over national politics.
The whole family was then forced out of the village, which resulted in them seeking refuge in Old Highfield.
That is when she became a youth member of ZAPU, together with the late Cdes Sabina Mugabe, Tsitsi Munyati, Ruth Chinamano and many others.
The national heroine also served in various senior posts in Zanu-PF, including Women’s League Political Commissar in 1983, Central Committee member and National Consultative Assembly member.
Currently, there are 170 heroes buried at the national shrine, but 32 others who were accorded national hero status are buried elsewhere.
There have been four double burials conducted at the national shrine since 2016.
National heroines Cdes Victoria Chitepo and Vivian Mwashita were buried at the same time in 2016.
Then in 2017, national heroes Cdes Maud Muzenda and George Rutanhire were also buried simultaneously, as was the case with Cdes Ellen Gwarazimba and Cde Morton Paul Malianga in January 2021.
Last year, on Heroes Day, the country also witnessed the double burial of Ambassador Johannes Tomana and Brigadier-General Milton Siziba.
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