The ZANU-PF politiburo has conferred national hero status on the late ruling party secretary for welfare of the disabled and disadvantaged persons, Stanley Sakupwanya, who died at Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare, Tuesday night.
Zanu-PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo said the decision was easy for the politburo to reach, given Sakupwanya long-standing membership of the Zimbabwe African People’s Union ( ZAPU).
Gumbo told reporter Jonga Kandemiri of VOA’s Studio 7 program, that Sakupwanya, who trained as a doctor in the then Soviet Union, contributed immensely to Zimbabwe’s independence, by fighting in the liberation struggle, from Zambia and Uganda, where he was based.
Sakupwanya’s body was initially taken to one of the commando barracks before being ferried to his rural home in Rusape, where he will lie in State before his burial at the National Heroes Acre, in Harare, on Sunday.
Sakupwanya was born in Bulawayo. He attended Mzilikazi Primary school and Moeng in Botswana and then joined the liberation struggle in 1963.
He is survived by 11 children and 15 grandchildren.