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Edgar Tekere to be buried on Sunday, at the Heroes Acre
10 Jun 2011 at 06:21hrs | Views
Edgar Zivanai Tekere, who died in Mutare on Tuesday, has been declared a national hero and will be buried at the National Heroes Acre in Harare on Sunday.
Cde Tekere (74) died after a long battle with prostate cancer.
Zanu-PF secretary for administration Cde Didymus Mutasa told journalists Thursday that the Politburo found it befitting to confer national hero status on Cde Tekere following a request by the party's Manicaland provincial leadership.
The decision was arrived at after a split vote.
Cde Mutasa said out of the 65 Politburo members consulted, 43 members backed the request to declare him a national hero while 10 others were not available.
He said one Politburo member proposed that Cde Tekere be accorded a State assisted funeral while another - who Cde Mutasa declined to name - stunned the party when he said he did not even know who Cde Tekere was.
"I should say how sad the party is with the going of Cde Tekere, but I should say how happy I am that the party - with a very considerable majority, near unanimity declared Cde Tekere a natio-nal hero.
"He will now be handed over to the State and the State will now handle the affairs of his funeral. We are going to Mutare to inform the family," he said.
Responding to claims that Cde Tekere had intimated that he did not want to be buried at the national shrine, Cde Mutasa said: "When you join an organisation like a political party you cease to be yourself."
He, however, said the decision on where Cde Tekere should be buried lay with his family, but that could not remove his national hero status.
Cde Mutasa said the former Zanu-PF secretary-general was an active member of the party whose liberation war credentials were beyond any reasonable doubt.
"He became a member of Zanu-PF in 1964 as a member of the Youth League. He was active in the Midlands Province where he worked with Cde (Kenneth) Manyonda."
Cde Mutasa broke the news of Cde Tekere's hero status to the family in Mutare yesterday afternoon.
"I am here to give you feedback on the position taken by our Politburo regarding Cde Tekere's hero status. He has been conferred with the highest honour befitting a person of his stature.
"Although Cde Tekere was even eyeing President Mugabe's position, we want to thank him (President Mugabe) for accepting the province's position of according him the national hero status. President Mugabe has honoured us the people of Manicaland by recognising the good deeds done by our late hero. Yes, people might differ here and there, but that is what democracy is all about," he said.Cde Mutasa urged people from Manicaland to throng the National Heroes' Acre on Sunday in their multitudes to give Cde Tekere a resounding send-off."There is no better way of showing our gratitude to President Mugabe than thronging the National Heroes' Acre in our numbers on Sunday. Cde Tekere's death has even further united us as a province. I do not know what would have happened if he was not accorded the national hero status. I was just afraid that this could have signalled the demise of the party as some disgruntlements were likely to emerge, thereby dividing us."We should remain united and speaking with one voice as what happened when we were consulting over Cde Tekere's hero status," said Cde Mutasa.Zanu-PF Manicaland provincial chairman, Cde Mike Madiro, thanked the Politburo and President Mugabe for conferring Cde Tekere national hero status."This day we are supposed to be mourning the departure of a dear Comrade, but we should be celebrating the unity of purpose shown by cadres from this province. Your unwavering support saw us taking the courage to write to the Politburo asking them to confer Cde Tekere with the national hero status. This unity of purpose should continue," he said.Mourners at Cde Tekere's house received the news of him being declared a national hero with jubilation.
His family accepted the status bestowed on their son and agreed that he be buried at the National Heroes' Acre in Harare on Sunday.Family spokesperson Mr Steven Kada said: "We have been waiting for communication to come from Harare regarding our relative's hero status. Since everything has been clarified, we are in agreement with the Politburo decision. We accept everything 100 percent and we want to thank you very much for conferring national hero status on Cde Tekere."As a family, we are comfortable with burying him on Sunday because we want to give everyone in Mutare a chance to pay their last respects before the body is taken to its final resting place. We were approached by churches here saying they wanted to have services and we want to accord them the chance. Some relatives had travelled from Harare and we want them to adequately prepare for us to give our icon a befitting send-off."Upon their release from detention in 1975, Cde Tekere and President Mugabe crossed into Mozambique accompanied by the late national hero Chief Rekai Tangwena.
They crossed the Eastern Highlands border in Mutare through the mountains on foot following the Gairezi River trail to Seguranza military camp in Mozambique to kick start the liberation war that gave birth to independent Zimbabwe.
Born in 1937, Cde Tekere joined politics at a tender age and was a founder member of the National Democratic Party (NDP).
When the party was banned by the Ian Smith regime, Cde Tekere joined Zapu in 1961. He was instrumental in the formation of Zanu in 1963.
Cde Tekere was arrested for political activism in 1964 and spent 10 years at Wha Wha prison together with President Mugabe.
He attended the Lancaster House Conference and at independence he was Minister of Manpower Planning and Development.
Cde Tekere is survived by his wife Pamela and a child.
During his political career Cde Tekere courted controversy and was tried at the High Court in 1980 on allegations of killing a white farm manager, Mr Gerald Adams.
He was acquitted of the murder charges after the assessors overruled the judge saying he had acted in the interest of State security.
Cde Tekere was relieved of duties as minister after making a series of comments against Government policy in 1981. He, however retained his post as Zanu-PF secretary general. He later served as Zanu-PF Manicaland provincial chairman until 1987. Cde Tekere was expelled from the party in 1988 and later formed the Zimbabwe Unity Movement to contest against President Mugabe in the 1990 Presidential elections and lost.
He, however, disappeared from the limelight and re-emerged in 2005 when he indicated his desire to contest the Senate elections on a Zanu-PF ticket before he was readmitted in the party in 2006.
However, the following year a Zanu-PF National Disciplinary Committee recommended that Cde Tekere be fired from the party after a concoction of unsubstantiated claims and lies relating to the liberation struggle in his autobiography titled "A Lifetime of Struggle."
Cde Tekere (74) died after a long battle with prostate cancer.
Zanu-PF secretary for administration Cde Didymus Mutasa told journalists Thursday that the Politburo found it befitting to confer national hero status on Cde Tekere following a request by the party's Manicaland provincial leadership.
The decision was arrived at after a split vote.
Cde Mutasa said out of the 65 Politburo members consulted, 43 members backed the request to declare him a national hero while 10 others were not available.
He said one Politburo member proposed that Cde Tekere be accorded a State assisted funeral while another - who Cde Mutasa declined to name - stunned the party when he said he did not even know who Cde Tekere was.
"I should say how sad the party is with the going of Cde Tekere, but I should say how happy I am that the party - with a very considerable majority, near unanimity declared Cde Tekere a natio-nal hero.
"He will now be handed over to the State and the State will now handle the affairs of his funeral. We are going to Mutare to inform the family," he said.
Responding to claims that Cde Tekere had intimated that he did not want to be buried at the national shrine, Cde Mutasa said: "When you join an organisation like a political party you cease to be yourself."
He, however, said the decision on where Cde Tekere should be buried lay with his family, but that could not remove his national hero status.
Cde Mutasa said the former Zanu-PF secretary-general was an active member of the party whose liberation war credentials were beyond any reasonable doubt.
"He became a member of Zanu-PF in 1964 as a member of the Youth League. He was active in the Midlands Province where he worked with Cde (Kenneth) Manyonda."
Cde Mutasa broke the news of Cde Tekere's hero status to the family in Mutare yesterday afternoon.
"I am here to give you feedback on the position taken by our Politburo regarding Cde Tekere's hero status. He has been conferred with the highest honour befitting a person of his stature.
"Although Cde Tekere was even eyeing President Mugabe's position, we want to thank him (President Mugabe) for accepting the province's position of according him the national hero status. President Mugabe has honoured us the people of Manicaland by recognising the good deeds done by our late hero. Yes, people might differ here and there, but that is what democracy is all about," he said.Cde Mutasa urged people from Manicaland to throng the National Heroes' Acre on Sunday in their multitudes to give Cde Tekere a resounding send-off."There is no better way of showing our gratitude to President Mugabe than thronging the National Heroes' Acre in our numbers on Sunday. Cde Tekere's death has even further united us as a province. I do not know what would have happened if he was not accorded the national hero status. I was just afraid that this could have signalled the demise of the party as some disgruntlements were likely to emerge, thereby dividing us."We should remain united and speaking with one voice as what happened when we were consulting over Cde Tekere's hero status," said Cde Mutasa.Zanu-PF Manicaland provincial chairman, Cde Mike Madiro, thanked the Politburo and President Mugabe for conferring Cde Tekere national hero status."This day we are supposed to be mourning the departure of a dear Comrade, but we should be celebrating the unity of purpose shown by cadres from this province. Your unwavering support saw us taking the courage to write to the Politburo asking them to confer Cde Tekere with the national hero status. This unity of purpose should continue," he said.Mourners at Cde Tekere's house received the news of him being declared a national hero with jubilation.
His family accepted the status bestowed on their son and agreed that he be buried at the National Heroes' Acre in Harare on Sunday.Family spokesperson Mr Steven Kada said: "We have been waiting for communication to come from Harare regarding our relative's hero status. Since everything has been clarified, we are in agreement with the Politburo decision. We accept everything 100 percent and we want to thank you very much for conferring national hero status on Cde Tekere."As a family, we are comfortable with burying him on Sunday because we want to give everyone in Mutare a chance to pay their last respects before the body is taken to its final resting place. We were approached by churches here saying they wanted to have services and we want to accord them the chance. Some relatives had travelled from Harare and we want them to adequately prepare for us to give our icon a befitting send-off."Upon their release from detention in 1975, Cde Tekere and President Mugabe crossed into Mozambique accompanied by the late national hero Chief Rekai Tangwena.
They crossed the Eastern Highlands border in Mutare through the mountains on foot following the Gairezi River trail to Seguranza military camp in Mozambique to kick start the liberation war that gave birth to independent Zimbabwe.
Born in 1937, Cde Tekere joined politics at a tender age and was a founder member of the National Democratic Party (NDP).
When the party was banned by the Ian Smith regime, Cde Tekere joined Zapu in 1961. He was instrumental in the formation of Zanu in 1963.
Cde Tekere was arrested for political activism in 1964 and spent 10 years at Wha Wha prison together with President Mugabe.
He attended the Lancaster House Conference and at independence he was Minister of Manpower Planning and Development.
Cde Tekere is survived by his wife Pamela and a child.
During his political career Cde Tekere courted controversy and was tried at the High Court in 1980 on allegations of killing a white farm manager, Mr Gerald Adams.
He was acquitted of the murder charges after the assessors overruled the judge saying he had acted in the interest of State security.
Cde Tekere was relieved of duties as minister after making a series of comments against Government policy in 1981. He, however retained his post as Zanu-PF secretary general. He later served as Zanu-PF Manicaland provincial chairman until 1987. Cde Tekere was expelled from the party in 1988 and later formed the Zimbabwe Unity Movement to contest against President Mugabe in the 1990 Presidential elections and lost.
He, however, disappeared from the limelight and re-emerged in 2005 when he indicated his desire to contest the Senate elections on a Zanu-PF ticket before he was readmitted in the party in 2006.
However, the following year a Zanu-PF National Disciplinary Committee recommended that Cde Tekere be fired from the party after a concoction of unsubstantiated claims and lies relating to the liberation struggle in his autobiography titled "A Lifetime of Struggle."
Source - Byo24News
