Zimpapers Logo

national hero, Cde Andrew Sikajaya Muntanga tomorrow.
In an interview yesterday, the Governor for Matabeleland North province Sithokozile Mathuthu, said the buses would pick up mourners from all the districts in the province to Harare for the burial of Cde Muntanga at the National Heroes Acre.

Governor Mathuthu said mourners would be picked up at the “usual pick up” points in the districts.
“We have arranged seven buses to take mourners to Harare. Two buses will be deployed to Binga, while Hwange, Bubi and Nkayi will each have one. Tsholo-tsho and Nyamandlovu will share a bus and the same applies to Lupane and parts of Umguza,” she said.

ALSO READ…

• National hero Muntanga’s body to be taken to Binga

Governor Mathuthu said Cde Muntanga’s body would be taken to Binga, his rural home, this morning after the family requested that the Binga community be given an opportunity to pay their last respects to their “independence icon”.
“The body will then be flown to Harare where it will lie in state before burial at the National Heroes Acre on Wednesday,” she said.

The Government has also provided a bus to ferry mourners from Bulawayo to Harare. Zanu-PF Bulawayo provincial chairman, Cde Isaac Dakamela, said the buses would leave Bulawayo in the evening and urged district leaders to select representatives who would travel for the burial.
“There will be a single bus to carry mourners although we hope to have other small vehicles,” said Cde Dakamela. “The bus will leave Bulawayo at 6pm from the usual pick up point.”

Meanwhile, Zanu-PF national secretary for education Dr Sikhanyiso Ndlovu has sent his condolence message to the Muntanga family. Dr Ndlovu described Cde Muntanga as a hard worker who became the cornerstone of the armed struggle in Binga.

“I received with shock the news about Cde Muntanga’s death. I had known Cde Muntanga for many years through the war and he was a hardworking cadre who helped organise structures in Binga,” he said. “When Zapu was banned he maintained underground operations in Binga where he showed dedication and unflinching commitment and became the cornerstone of the armed struggle. To the family we want to say the loss is not for them alone but for us all as a nation.”

Dr Ndlovu said Cde Muntanga’s life should be a lesson to youths in Binga who should be inspired to develop the district in his honour. “We would want to advocate for a school to be named after him in Binga so that his works are immortalised,” he said.

Cde Muntanga, who was Binga legislator from 1980 to 1985 died on Sunday last week at a medical centre in Victoria Falls after a long battle with heart complications. He completed Standard Six in 1961 at St Mary’s Mission in Hwange and at 24 he became a devout Catholic.

He went to Zambia to train as a Roman Catholic priest but headed back to Zimbabwe to join the late Vice-President Dr Joshua Nkomo’s party and the liberation struggle.
He joined Zapu in 1965 when the leadership assigned him to Binga to open up Zapu branches.

When Zapu’s Western North Province was formed, Cde Muntanga was elected deputy provincial organising secretary under Cde Richard Ndlovu. In 1972, when the Pearce Commission went into the province, Cde Muntanga had already mobilised people for a “No” vote. He was banned from entering Binga district as he was declared persona non-grata. He was imprisoned in Hwange and later at Whawha Prison.

Cde Muntanga then went to London where he mobilised material support for freedom fighters for Zapu camps in Zambia. In 1975, Cde Muntanga was re-deployed to Zambia where he worked under Vice President Dr John Landa Nkomo in the works camp.

He was elevated to become a member of the Zipra Revolutionary Council and was subsequently chosen to be among the delegates to the Lancaster House talks.
Prior to the 1980 independence elections, Cde Muntanga was elected member of the Central Committee for PF-Zapu and held the position of deputy national organising secretary.

After the Unity Accord in 1987 he was elected provincial secretary for the Commissariat for Matabeleland North province, a position he held up to 2000 before stepping down because of ill health.
He was however, elevated to the position of National Consultative Assembly member in recognition of his sterling work during the liberation struggle.

He was re-elected member of parliament for Binga in 1995 to 2000 before retiring from active politics on medical grounds.
He is survived by wife Regina and six children.