BULAWAYO – Former vice president Phelekezela Mphoko was laid to rest to the sound of a 21-gun salute in Bulawayo on Sunday.
One of the wartime commanders of ZPRA, Mphoko was eulogised as a resourceful military planner who prioritised getting supplies to the frontline.
He was buried inside the compound of his home in Douglasdale, about 10km southeast of Bulawayo.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was in Bulawayo, skipped the burial – continuing a tradition of boycotting funerals of national heroes who choose not to be buried at the National Heroes Acre in Harare.
His spokesman George Charamba said: “His Excellency the President had an opportunity to pay his last respects to the late VP Mphoko before the commencement of burial proceedings.”
Mnangagwa met the Mphoko family at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport last Thursday after his body was flown in from India, where he died from an undisclosed illness at the age of 84.
Mphoko’s young brother Ndabezinhle Mphoko said “no words can explain how much we will miss him.”
“He was a humble man who cherished his privacy and family. His journey may have ended, but the memories and lessons he imparted will inspire generations to come,” he told mourners.
Zimbabwe’s ambassador to India Stella Nkomo attended the burial.
Matabeleland North minister Richard Moyo and Bulawayo minister Judith Ncube represented the government.
Mphoko, who was born on June 11, 1940, in the Gwizane area of Bubi district was Zimbabwe’s vice president between 2014 and 2017 when the military ousted Robert Mugabe as president and installed Mnangagwa as new president.
He is survived by his widow Laurinda, and their three children Sikhumbuzo, Siduduzo and Siqokoqela.
