News / Local
Nkiwane burial date set
11 Jul 2021 at 05:38hrs | Views
THE late national hero, Abraham Nkiwane, will be buried tomorrow at his farm on the outskirts of Umguza District while burial arrangements for two other national heroes, Commander of the Zimbabwe National Army, Lieutenant-General Edzai Absalom Chakanyuka Chimonyo and Michael Chakabva, will be announced in due course, although provisionally also set to be buried tomorrow at the national shrine in Harare..
In a statement yesterday, the Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, confirmed the latest developments.
"The late National Hero Abraham Nkiwane will be buried on Monday 12 July 2021, in Umguza. Regarding the interment of the late Commander of The Zimbabwe National Army, Lieutenant-General Edzai Absalom Chakanyuka Chimonyo and Michael Chakabva ("Vhuu"), burial arrangements will be announced in due course," the ministry's statement read.
While traditionally national heroes are buried at the National Heroes' Acre in Harare, the Government agreed to Nkiwane's wish, as expressed by his family, for his farm to be his final resting place. Nkiwane (93) succumbed to prostate cancer at the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) on Tuesday where he was admitted.
He was in the elite Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZPRA) High Command. Family spokesperson Pastor Fairchild Mhlophe yesterday told Sunday News that although news had not been broken to the rest of the family, it had been decided in consultation with Government that Monday would be the day that the national hero would be laid to rest.
"The burial of the late hero, Nkiwane will be Monday. We have concluded all consultations as the family together with the Government and this is the date that was agreed on. We will inform the mourners this afternoon (yesterday) during prayers. Everyone has been consulted from the people in the President's Office to those in the Public Service Commission who will assist with some of the work to be done on Monday," he said.
As his family prepared to lay Nkiwane to rest, Pastor Mhlophe said people should emulate the late nationalist, whose shining qualities included humility and an affinity for hard work.
"I think that there are two lessons that people must learn from Nkiwane. The first is that he was a person who exhibited great humility. Just from looking at him and the way he carried himself, one would not know that he was someone that was wealthy.
"Just from seeing him or being around him, one would not know that he was a person who was important enough to be given such an honour of being a national hero.
"The second lesson that people need to take from his life is that he was someone that believed in hard work. If you go to his farm today, you will see a lot of sweet potatoes and other vegetables, you will see fields with a lot of green mealies. This is because he was someone who believed in hard work. He did not subscribe to thoughts of being a remote-control farmer," Pastor Mhlophe said.
Nkiwane was born on 6 January, 1928 in Ntabazinduna in Matabeleland North and attended the Presbyterian Church's David Livingstone Primary School before proceeding to Thekwane Mission after which he taught at Tjehanga School from which he was expelled along with others for their demand for justice in the manner the Methodist Church was running schools. n 1949 he was employed by the Bulawayo Municipality working in the African Department under the directorship of Dr Hugh Ashton.
In 1954 when Nkiwane was reading towards a Bachelor of Commerce degree, he left for Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) at the time of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland which had been inaugurated in 1953. Initially, he lived in Livingstone where he worked as stock controller in a company known as Rhodesia Mercantile Holdings. He worked for that company until 1960.
In 1961 Nkiwane joined the United National Independence Party (UNIP). Soon he began to work full time for Zapu and subsequently moved to Lusaka. Not so long after that Zapu leader Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo visited Zambia specifically to solicit political support from Dr Kenneth Kaunda. Nkiwane is survived by wife, Ntombizodwa and three children — two sons and a daughter.
In a statement yesterday, the Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, confirmed the latest developments.
"The late National Hero Abraham Nkiwane will be buried on Monday 12 July 2021, in Umguza. Regarding the interment of the late Commander of The Zimbabwe National Army, Lieutenant-General Edzai Absalom Chakanyuka Chimonyo and Michael Chakabva ("Vhuu"), burial arrangements will be announced in due course," the ministry's statement read.
While traditionally national heroes are buried at the National Heroes' Acre in Harare, the Government agreed to Nkiwane's wish, as expressed by his family, for his farm to be his final resting place. Nkiwane (93) succumbed to prostate cancer at the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) on Tuesday where he was admitted.
He was in the elite Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZPRA) High Command. Family spokesperson Pastor Fairchild Mhlophe yesterday told Sunday News that although news had not been broken to the rest of the family, it had been decided in consultation with Government that Monday would be the day that the national hero would be laid to rest.
"The burial of the late hero, Nkiwane will be Monday. We have concluded all consultations as the family together with the Government and this is the date that was agreed on. We will inform the mourners this afternoon (yesterday) during prayers. Everyone has been consulted from the people in the President's Office to those in the Public Service Commission who will assist with some of the work to be done on Monday," he said.
"I think that there are two lessons that people must learn from Nkiwane. The first is that he was a person who exhibited great humility. Just from looking at him and the way he carried himself, one would not know that he was someone that was wealthy.
"Just from seeing him or being around him, one would not know that he was a person who was important enough to be given such an honour of being a national hero.
"The second lesson that people need to take from his life is that he was someone that believed in hard work. If you go to his farm today, you will see a lot of sweet potatoes and other vegetables, you will see fields with a lot of green mealies. This is because he was someone who believed in hard work. He did not subscribe to thoughts of being a remote-control farmer," Pastor Mhlophe said.
Nkiwane was born on 6 January, 1928 in Ntabazinduna in Matabeleland North and attended the Presbyterian Church's David Livingstone Primary School before proceeding to Thekwane Mission after which he taught at Tjehanga School from which he was expelled along with others for their demand for justice in the manner the Methodist Church was running schools. n 1949 he was employed by the Bulawayo Municipality working in the African Department under the directorship of Dr Hugh Ashton.
In 1954 when Nkiwane was reading towards a Bachelor of Commerce degree, he left for Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) at the time of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland which had been inaugurated in 1953. Initially, he lived in Livingstone where he worked as stock controller in a company known as Rhodesia Mercantile Holdings. He worked for that company until 1960.
In 1961 Nkiwane joined the United National Independence Party (UNIP). Soon he began to work full time for Zapu and subsequently moved to Lusaka. Not so long after that Zapu leader Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo visited Zambia specifically to solicit political support from Dr Kenneth Kaunda. Nkiwane is survived by wife, Ntombizodwa and three children — two sons and a daughter.
Source - sundaynews
