shloboe boe
Nqobile Tshili and Joseph Madzimure
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa yesterday conferred National Hero status on Major General (Retired) Solomon Siziba and former Information, Posts and Telecommunications Minister Cde Chenhamo ‘Chen’ Chakezha Chimutengwende, in recognition of their contributions to the country before and after independence.
Maj-Gen Siziba died on Wednesday and will be buried at the National Heroes Acre in Harare next week while burial arrangements for Cde Chimutengwende will be announced in due course as his family is expected to meet Government representatives today.
Maj-Gen Siziba died at the Josiah Magama Tongogara Barracks Camp Hospital in Harare after battling cancer.
He was 67.
Bulawayo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Judith Ncube delivered the national hero status to the Siziba family at his Killarney residence in Bulawayo yesterday evening after receiving communication from the President’s Office.
“This message comes from Dr Martin Rushwaya, the Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet, and is referenced: National Hero Status, the late Maj-Gen (Rtd) Solomon Siziba. His Excellency, the President and First Secretary of Zanu PF, Cde. Dr. E.D Mnangagwa, has conferred national hero status on the late Cde Maj Gen (Rtd) Solomon Siziba, who died on the 15th of January 2025.
“Mourners are gathered at 527 Bulawayo Drive, Killarney, Bulawayo. The late Maj Gen (Rtd) Siziba will be interred at the National Heroes Acre in Harare at a date to be announced. I shall be most grateful if you would make the usual arrangements for his burial and payment of benefits to his family,” said Minister Ncube
She described Maj-Gen Siziba’s death as a great loss, saying her office had started to initiate the processes expected with the handling of a funeral of a national hero.
Maj-Gen Siziba’s brother, Mr Leonard Siziba, expressed gratitude to the President for declaring his brother a national hero. He said the status was befitting for a man who served the country since his childhood as a learner at Manama High School, where he and other learners joined the armed struggle.
“We want to thank His Excellency, the President, for declaring my brother a national hero. We also want to thank the Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution for delivering the message to the family.
My brother joined the armed struggle when he, together with other learners from Manama, left school and crossed into Botswana.
“He did his primary level at Nhwali Primary School and proceeded to Manama High School in 1976, where he started his Form One.
“He was part of the group that joined the armed struggle from Manama Mission in 1977. He did his military training in Zambia, and during the ceasefire, he was attested to the Zimbabwe National Army. He was stationed at the Zimbabwe Military Academy, where he rose to the rank of Captain. He was then transferred to the ZNA, where he worked until 2005, rising to the position of Lieutenant-Colonel. He was posted to Botswana as Defence Attaché from 2005 to 2013, stationed at the Zimbabwean Embassy,” he said.
Mr Siziba said upon his return to Zimbabwe in 2013, Rtd Maj Gen Siziba was appointed the Deputy Commander of One Brigade and had been elevated to the rank of Colonel.
From 2013 until 2018, he was appointed Director of Administration at the National Prosecuting Authority.
Mr Siziba said Maj-Gen Siziba returned to the ZNA in 2018 and was elevated to the rank of Brigadier General and was assigned to the Brigadier General Inspectorate position, a post he held until he retired from the military last year. He said his brother was elevated to the position of Maj-Gen upon his retirement.
He described his death as a great loss, saying Maj-Gen Siziba had become a father figure in the family.
The Government has already taken over the funeral processes, including the provision of meals, tents, and other necessities.
Maj-Gen Siziba’s body is expected to arrive in Bulawayo today and will be received at HQ One Brigade Barracks (Mzilikazi Barracks). After that, it will be taken to Doves Funeral Parlour. Tomorrow, a send-off funeral service will be held at his rural home in Nhwali, Gwanda, Matabeleland South.
Matabeleland South Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Dr Evelyn Ndlovu, service chiefs, and other senior government officials were among the mourners at the family’s residence.
Cde Chimutengwende died on Thursday and was declared a national hero last night.
Zanu PF National Political Commissar Cde Munyaradzi Machacha delivered the message to the family at their Milton Park, Harare, home.
Cde Machacha was accompanied to the Chimutengwende family home by Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe, who is also the Zanu PF Mashonaland Central provincial chairman.
Earlier in the day, Zanu PF National Chairman and Defence Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri had told the media that Mashonaland Central province had written to the national leadership requesting national hero status for Cde Chimutengwende.
She described Cde Chimutengwende as a strong member of the ruling party Zanu PF, who played a major role before and after independence.
“He was a principled person who persevered and was consistent and these are some of those values that we consider (when declaring one a national hero),” Cde Muchinguri-Kashiri said.
Cde Chimutengwende served as a Government Minister, Member of Parliament for Mazowe and a Politburo member.
He succumbed to chronic kidney disease.
Born on August 28, 1943, Cde Chimutengwende first became a Zanu PF Member of Parliament in 1985 in Mazowe, and served as a legislator for over 25 years.
He also served for 14 years as a Cabinet Minister.
Cde Chimutengwende served as Senator and Deputy President of the Senate, Member of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) and Head of the Zimbabwe delegation to the PAP.
He earned a Master’s degree in Social Science and a PhD from the University of Bradford in the UK.
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