Staff Reporter

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has granted the late war veteran, Highten Nkomo a hero status following his passing on yesterday.

Speaking through a statement yesterday, President Mnangagwa said that he granted Nkomo a hero status in recognition of his contribution to the liberation of Zimbabwe and his loyalty.

“In recognition of his contribution to the liberation of Zimbabwe, loyalty to our Nation and unwavering membership to the revolutionary Party, ZANU PF, I have granted Cde Highten Nkomo the National Hero Status,” said President Mnangagwa.

President Mnangagwa articulated the origins of Nkomo highlighting that he was one of the pioneers of the revolutionary struggle.

“Cde Nkomo was one of the early Zimbabwe People`s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) cadres that included the likes of the late Major General (Retd) Jevan Maseko, Brigadier General (Retd) Abel Mazinyane, the late Colonel (Retd) Masala Sibanda, and others, who trained at Morogoro in Tanzania in the period 1969 to 1970,

 “Born to Zimbabwean parents who relocated to Zambia after being forced off their land in Tsholotsho by the settler regime, Cde Nkomo would never set foot in the then Rhodesia except as a freedom fighter. He dropped school in Zambia in Form 2 to join the Liberation Struggle in the late sixties,” said President Mnangagwa.

President Mnangagwa further informed the nation that Nkomo trained as a Military Engineer in the now defunct Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and thereafter commanded various liberation camps, including Chakwenga Transit Camp, through which ZANU PF Vice President Kembo Mohadi, Commander Defence Forces, General Valerio Sibanda, and many others, passed as recruits.

Meanwhile, President Mnangagwa expressed his sincere condolences on behalf of the Government and the ZANU PF party to the Nkomo family for the loss of their loved one.