Harare, (New Ziana) – The late national hero, Brigadier General (rtd) Samuel Mpabanga, will be interred at the National Heroes Acre on Wednesday, the government has said.
He died died on 9 February at the age of 69.
In a statement, the Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage said Mpabanga’s body will be airlifted to Charles Gumbo Barracks on Tuesday where it will lie in state ahead of burial.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa is expected to preside over the burial.
“The Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage wishes to advise the nation that the late National Hero, Brigadier General (Rtd) Samuel Mpabanga, will be laid to rest at the National Heroes Acre on Wednesday, the 18th of February 2026.
“His Excellency, The President, Cde Dr E. D. Mnangagwa, will preside over this burial. On Tuesday, 17 February 2026, the Late National Hero will be airlifted to Charles Gumbo Barracks, where he will again lie in state ahead of burial on Wednesday,” it said.
Mpabanga, who is survived by his wife and four children, was born on 31 August 1956 in Gwanda. He attended Mapate Primary School and Beitbridge Primary School between 1963 and 1970, before proceeding to Manama Mission (1971–1972) and Matobo Secondary School (1973–1974).
He joined the liberation struggle in 1977 as a ZIPRA cadre, undergoing military training at Mulungushi under the Zambian army, before further training in Odessa in the then Soviet Union.
Following independence, Mpabanga enlisted in the Zimbabwe National Army on 12 July 1980, serving until his retirement on 31 August 2022.
Between 2016 and 2022, he also served as defence attaché at Zimbabwe’s embassy in Zambia, where he oversaw the management and upkeep of liberation war shrines that honor scores of Zimbabwe’s heroes and heroines in the neighbouring country.
New Ziana
