Late Vice Marshal (rtd) Mandeya’s family have yet to accept heroine status
By Staff Reporter
AIR Vice Marshal (Retired) Winnie Mandeya who died on Monday has been declared a national heroine.
Zanu PF national political commissar Cde Munyaradzi Machacha delivered the message to her family last night saying the Government was ready to inter her at the National Heroes Acre tomorrow, pending the family’s approval.
“The national heroine has been granted the highest recognition of national heroine and she will be buried together with other heroes and heroines at the National Heroes Acre. We were looking to have her buried on Friday May 2, pending agreement with the family.
“If the family is comfortable with that, then Government will start doing the necessary in terms of arrangements,” he said.
A liberation war heroine and seasoned officer, AVM Mandeya, joined the liberation struggle on September 29, 1975, undergoing basic military training at Nachingweya in Tanzania.
She was subsequently deployed to Gaza Province where she operated until 1978 before being selected for a nursing course.
Following Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, AVM Mandeya initially served in the President’s Department, actively participating in the 1981 Commission of Inquiry into missing persons.
She later transferred to the Air Force of Zimbabwe on July 1, 1984, where she served with distinction until her retirement.
She died aged 64
