National hero burial set for tomorrow 

Sunday Mail Reporter

PRESIDENT MNANGAGWA is set to preside over the burial of national hero Brigadier-General (Retired) Michael Chaminuka at the National Heroes Acre in Harare tomorrow.

Brig-Gen (Rtd) Chaminuka died on Saturday last week at the Trauma Centre in Harare after a short illness.

He was 62.

Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe yesterday told The Sunday Mail that mourners are expected to be seated at the national shrine by 7am.

“The President, like always, will preside over the burial at the (National) Heroes Acre on Monday. Mourners are expected to be seated by 7am . . . ,” he said.

Brig-Gen (Rtd) Chaminuka’s body was yesterday paraded at the Charles Gumbo Barracks (formerly One Commando Barracks) before being flown to Nkani village, Chief Mudzimu, in Hurungwe, Mashonaland West province.

The body was then taken to his Foliot Farm in Hurungwe, where it lay in state last night.

In a statement, the Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage said the body is expected to depart Foliot Farm at 11am today and arrive at the Manyame Airbase at 11.45am, ahead of tomorrow’s burial.

Born on January 2, 1962, in Nkani village, Hurungwe, Brig-Gen (Rtd) Chaminuka attended Kapfunde Primary School in the same district in 1969.

He proceeded to Columbus Secondary School in Honde Valley, Manicaland province, for Form One and Form Two between 1975 and 1976.

Following the closure of the school by the Ian Smith regime, he moved to St John’s Chikwaka Secondary School to complete his Form Two.

He began Form Three in 1977.

In the same year, he crossed the border into Mozambique with five others to join the liberation struggle.

He subsequently trained at Tembwe Base 2 in 1978, after which he was selected for a medical training course in Chimoio, where one of his instructors was Dr Sydney Sekeramayi.

After the medical training course, he was deployed to the national pharmacy, where all medicines were received and stored before being dispatched to operational zones. During the ceasefire, he and his fellow comrades remained in Mozambique guarding the national pharmacy.

He then joined other comrades at Echo Assembly Point in Nyanga in 1980 after the elections, from where he was selected to join the Zimbabwe National Army.

He was attested into the Zimbabwe National Army on January 5, 1981 and served under the Headquarters 1 Infantry Brigade.

During his illustrious career in the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, he held several challenging appointments, which included desk officer at the Military Intelligence Directorate; directing staff at the Zimbabwe Staff College; personal staff officer to the Commander, Zimbabwe Defence Forces; director, military intelligence, at the Army Headquarters; and director, business development, at the Zimbabwe National Defence University.

He attended several military courses. These were the Basic Intelligence Officers’ Course, the Intermediate Intelligence Course, the Junior Staff Course, the Joint Command and Staff Course, the United Nations Peacekeeping Course in Cote d’Ivoire, the Multi-National Peacekeeping Course in Tanzania and the Defence and Security Military Relations Course in South Africa.

For his exploits, Brig-Gen (Rtd) Chaminuka scooped several accolades, including the Mozambique Campaign Medal, the Democratic Republic of Congo Campaign Medal, the United Nations Commendation Medal and the Grand Officer of the Zimbabwe Order of Merit Award.

He is survived by his wife Dr Lillian Chaminuka and five children.