Robert Mugabe Junior consoles Mrs Jane Linda Georgias while Mavis Gumbo, Zanu-PF Harare Province, looks on at the Georgias home in Strathaven yesterday. – (Picture by Innocent Makawa)
Herald Reporters—
All is set for the burial at the National Heroes Acre today of national hero Senator Aguy Georgias, a man described by many as an embodiment of black economic empowerment.Sen Georgias was Deputy Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing and died in Harare last Friday of heart and kidney complications at a local private hospital.
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He was 80.
Senior Government officials, relatives and friends thronged the Georgias residence in Strathaven, Harare, yesterday to pay their last respects. There was a church service at the Church of Nazareth in Chisipite after which the body was taken home and later conveyed to One Commando Barracks where it lay in state.
Harare Provincial Administrator Cde Alfred Tome said 90 buses would be deployed to ferry people in various places countrywide to and from the National Heroes Acre. “Each province will have five buses to ferry people to the National Heroes Acre. Harare province will have 40 buses and the buses will start ferrying people at 5.30am,” he said.
He said the buses would be deployed from Zanu-PF Headquarters and each bus would have a police officer. “Everyone should be seated by 9:30am and we would like to urge people, especially the youths, to come in their large numbers. All people from all political parties should come,” Mr Tome said.
Harare provincial war veterans’ chairman Cde John Guta urged war veterans to also come in their numbers.
“People should go to their normal pick-up points by 5.30am. Everyone should be seated before the President arrives to address at the burial of our national hero,” he said. Zanu-PF spokesperson Cde Simon Khaya Moyo, in his condolence message to the Georgias family, described the death of Sen Georgias as a shock to all patriotic Zimbabweans who knew him closely.
“I knew him since the attainment of our independence in 1980. He was an industrialist of enviable repute. A man of purpose – principled, courageous, focused and a workaholic. “He was a man of the people in all respects. A man of immense generosity. He was a fighter in all fronts for justice and economic emancipation,” he said.
He said Sen Georgias’ sole fight against the imposition of illegal sanctions on the country by the West using his own resources was unforgettable. Cde Khaya Moyo said his company, Trinity Engineering, had become a leader in industrial development.
“We dare not fail him, for he always led from the front. The party has lost a stalwart. We will miss his illustrious leadership in economic development,” said Cde Khaya Moyo. “His demise has robbed his family of a solid pillar, Zimbabwe has lost a great industrialist and mankind is poorer by his absence. May his soul anchor and rest in peace. Go well son of the soil,” he said.
Family spokesperson Mr Harry Georgias described the late senator as a humble and loving individual who sacrificed himself for the good of not only his family, but the nation. “He was one of the most loving persons not only to his family, but the nation as he helped many people through donations. He was also a loving father and a fantastic husband to my mother,” he said.
Zanu-PF Harare provincial chairwoman Cde Joyce Kasinamunda said Sen Georgias respected the party leadership and worked hard for it. “We are deeply pained by the loss of Sen Georgias who was a true cadre who did not discriminate against others. He loved the President and the party and worked hard for the nation,” she said.