News / National
Fallen heroes skeletons reburied
14 Aug 2015 at 14:58hrs | Views
The rmains of the fallen heroes and heroines that were retrieved from three sites at Muumbe, Nyazvikari and Mjee under Chief Musikavanhu's area in Chipinge last month were finally buried at Chipinge District Heroes' Acre on Monday.
Manica Post reported that out of the 13 bodies that were exhumed, nine were buried at the district shrine, while four bodies were repatriated to their respective homes in Buhera, Marange, Muumbe and Zvimba for reburial.
The event was graced by Mozambique's Musirizwi District Administrator Gilberto Kanyenze, who led a 40-Frelimo party delegation.
As per tradition, Chipinge District Administrator Edgars Seenza read the Heroes' Day speech on behalf of President Mugabe.
During the reburial process, war veterans were joined by their Mozambican counterparts from Frelimo in singing revolutionary songs which reignited the bond that existed during the liberation struggle.
The skeletal remains were in buried in coffins wrapped with the national flag.
Chipinge District war veteran chairperson Rephias Kugoda, who gave a brief background of the Muumbe killings by the Rhodesian Forces said all the fallen heroes were killed at the peak of the liberation struggle and were buried in shallow graves.
Kugoda said infighting between local headmen in Muumbe, which led to the execution of one substantive headman was the main reason which caused many deaths in the area as the spirits of the land had turned their backs on them.
"The many deaths experienced in Muumbe are attributed to the works of sell-outs who wanted to intervene in the inheritance of the chieftainship in that area," he said.
"During the exhumation process we identified some of the paraphernalia used during the liberation struggle. These include boots, Chinese tennis, watches and belts and all this clearly shows that we are really exhuming human remains. We are fortunate that some of our members are still remembering some of the shallow graves where some cadres such as Cdes Gunner Sibiya, Knox and Maphepha were buried," said Kugoda.
Chipinge like any other parts of Manicaland was used as an entry point by freedom fighters to Mozambique.
There are still other areas which still need to be exhumed. These include Mutandahwe, Ngaone, Chibonere Farm and Chipinge Urban Police Camp.
Zimbabwe National Fallen Heroes' Trust co-ordinator Evelyn Makwambeni called on the nation to support the exhumation process and desist from politicising it.
She said it is every one's responsibility to support events like this. This is not a political thing, but a national programme aimed at giving our fallen heroes decent reburials. We are happy with the support we got from local companies and individuals who are always with us during the time of need.
Chief exhumer Anyway Chikwanda, echoed the same sentiments and said: "We are happy with the maximum co-operation from local chiefs and individuals in the community because in some areas local leadership see exhuming of remains as a taboo. We have not finished in Chipinge as there are still many places where exhumations have to take place and we will make efforts to finish the whole exercise."
Manica Post reported that out of the 13 bodies that were exhumed, nine were buried at the district shrine, while four bodies were repatriated to their respective homes in Buhera, Marange, Muumbe and Zvimba for reburial.
The event was graced by Mozambique's Musirizwi District Administrator Gilberto Kanyenze, who led a 40-Frelimo party delegation.
As per tradition, Chipinge District Administrator Edgars Seenza read the Heroes' Day speech on behalf of President Mugabe.
During the reburial process, war veterans were joined by their Mozambican counterparts from Frelimo in singing revolutionary songs which reignited the bond that existed during the liberation struggle.
The skeletal remains were in buried in coffins wrapped with the national flag.
Chipinge District war veteran chairperson Rephias Kugoda, who gave a brief background of the Muumbe killings by the Rhodesian Forces said all the fallen heroes were killed at the peak of the liberation struggle and were buried in shallow graves.
Kugoda said infighting between local headmen in Muumbe, which led to the execution of one substantive headman was the main reason which caused many deaths in the area as the spirits of the land had turned their backs on them.
"The many deaths experienced in Muumbe are attributed to the works of sell-outs who wanted to intervene in the inheritance of the chieftainship in that area," he said.
"During the exhumation process we identified some of the paraphernalia used during the liberation struggle. These include boots, Chinese tennis, watches and belts and all this clearly shows that we are really exhuming human remains. We are fortunate that some of our members are still remembering some of the shallow graves where some cadres such as Cdes Gunner Sibiya, Knox and Maphepha were buried," said Kugoda.
Chipinge like any other parts of Manicaland was used as an entry point by freedom fighters to Mozambique.
There are still other areas which still need to be exhumed. These include Mutandahwe, Ngaone, Chibonere Farm and Chipinge Urban Police Camp.
Zimbabwe National Fallen Heroes' Trust co-ordinator Evelyn Makwambeni called on the nation to support the exhumation process and desist from politicising it.
She said it is every one's responsibility to support events like this. This is not a political thing, but a national programme aimed at giving our fallen heroes decent reburials. We are happy with the support we got from local companies and individuals who are always with us during the time of need.
Chief exhumer Anyway Chikwanda, echoed the same sentiments and said: "We are happy with the maximum co-operation from local chiefs and individuals in the community because in some areas local leadership see exhuming of remains as a taboo. We have not finished in Chipinge as there are still many places where exhumations have to take place and we will make efforts to finish the whole exercise."
Source - Manicapost
