Bridget Mugabe declared a Zimbabwe liberation heroine

PRESIDENT Mugabe's sister Bridget Mugabe has been declared a liberation heroine.

She died aged 78 on Sunday morning from heart failure at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals after spending more than three years on life support.

Bridget Mugabe collapsed at the National Heroes Acre in 2010 at the burial of her sister Sabina Mugabe and had been admitted in the hospitals' intensive care unit ever since.

Zanu-PF Mashonaland West secretary for administration Kindness Paradza said the party had conferred liberation heroine status after considering her contributions to Zimbabwe's freedom.

"She was a disciplinarian, a teacher, a unifier and a cultural ambassador who promoted our cultural heritage. She was also a firm promoter of self-reliance among Zimbabweans, believing that we should be masters of our destiny," Paradza said.

Yesterday, Bridget Mugabe's body was taken to Kutama Village in Zvimba ahead of burial at the rural home today.

A requiem mass was then conducted by Roman Catholic priest, Father Clifford Nhetekwa, who is also a nephew to the First Family.

He said Bridget had asked him to conduct mass when she passed on.

Father Nhetekwa described the now deceased as an honest person and a dedicated teacher who groomed a lot of people to be responsible citizens.

Father Nhetekwa said Bridget Mugabe had left an irreplaceable gap in the family.

She trained as a Science teacher and taught at Ngezi and St Michael's among other schools and contributed immensely to the liberation struggle.

She provided support to the seven freedom fighters who fired the first shots of the Second Chimurenga and was arrested and tortured by the Smith regime for her political activism.