BULAWAYO – Dumiso Dabengwa’s body finally arrived in Bulawayo just after midday on Monday, sparking a final farewell programme that will culminate in his burial in Ntabazinduna on Saturday.

Dabengwa died in Kenya on May 23 while returning from India where he was being treated for liver disease.

His body was flown to Johannesburg from Nairobi to catch a connecting flight to Bulawayo, but staff of South African Airlink inexplicably removed his body from the plane on Sunday without informing the war hero’s family who had already boarded.

The airline later claimed his casket was too big too fit into the cargo hold of the small plane, which Dabengwa’s family strongly refuted.

Hundreds of people gathered at the airport to receive Dabengwa, among them veterans of the 1970s bush war for independence. Dabengwa, known as the ‘Black Russian’ after being trained in Russia, commanded the intelligence arm of ZAPU’S military wing, ZIPRA.

The veterans performed a march, sang and saluted their departed commander, who has been declared a national hero.

His casket, wrapped firmly with a blue plastic cover and marked with fragile cargo signs, was removed to the plane and placed in a waiting see-through hearse which left the airport under police escort. His body was taken to a local funeral parlour for preservation while mourners continue to pour in at the Dabengwa family home in Four Winds, an upmarket suburb in Bulawayo.

A memorial service is set to be held at the Gauteng Provincial Legislature in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Wednesday where speakers will include the Ndebele chief Bulelani Lobengula and Umkhonto Wesizwe Veterans Association.

Dabengwa expressly stated that he wanted to be buried next to his ancestors in Ntabazinduna, eschewing burial at the National Heroes Acre in Harare.

Home at last … ZIPRA veterans surround the hearse carrying Dumiso Dabengwa’s body