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Nqobile Tshili, [email protected]

GOVERNMENT is processing requests from families of some national heroes to rebury their bodies at the National Heroes Acre in Harare.

Some national heroes were buried at their homesteads after they were accorded national hero status following their deaths.

Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Permanent Secretary Dr Gerald Gwinji revealed the planned reburials yesterday after he visited graves of 12 national heroes buried at Bulawayo’s Lady Stanley and Pelandaba cemeteries.

“We have requests for reburials of national heroes from their families.  Some are buried at their homesteads while others are at different cemeteries like here in Bulawayo and we are attending to that. I think we have up to five or so such requests. The Director of Museum and Monuments of Zimbabwe Dr Godfrey Mahachi will attend to that,” said Dr Gwinji.

He said his visit was aimed at assessing the state of the graves of the national heroes that were interred at cemeteries in Bulawayo.

Dr Gwinji said unlike those buried at the national shrine, the graves of those who are buried at community cemeteries are not well maintained. 

“The thrust of this visit is for me to appreciate where our heroes are laid in Bulawayo which is at Lady Stanley and Pelandaba cemeteries. We visited all the nine graves at the Lady Stanley and here there are three graves. Those who are interred at the National Heroes Acre are buried at a place where the graves are being maintained unlike at other cemeteries,” said Dr Gwinji.

He said Government can maintain national heroes’ graves at the different cemeteries but if the cemeteries are not maintained the intended objective will not be achieved.

Dr Gwinji said as the country heads towards August Heroes Day commemorations, it was time to remember the gallant sons and daughters who sacrificed their lives for the liberation of Zimbabwe. “It’s important to know where we came from and we can’t just bury our national heroes and forget them because they played a major role in our independence,” said Dr Gwinji.

Dr Mahachi said it will not be proper to disclose the names of the families of the national  heroes that requested the reburials before the finalisation of the process. “We have a number of requests at the moment, some internal while others are buried across the borders. I’m not sure if it will be appropriate for me to disclose the names of the families who made the requests,” said Dr Mahachi.

 He said among the national heroes buried in Bulawayo is Lazarus Nkala whom he described as a pioneer nationalist.

“We are looking at the veterans and nationalists like Lazarus Nkala. These are some of the people who were the leading veterans of the struggle. If you look at the heroes’ guide at the National Heroes Acre where we have information, some of these guys are listed,” he said.