NATIONAL liberation fighter, retired Air Force of Zimbabwe
commander and Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural
Resettlement Air Chief Marshal Perrance Shiri (Rtd), who died early yesterday
after a short illness at the age of 65, has been declared a National Hero.
President Mnangagwa described the liberation war stalwart
as a man who served his country with distinction as the Zanu-PF Politburo
unamimously agreed he should be declared a National Hero.
The President said Cde Shiri worked very hard during his
short stint as the Minister of Agriculture, a critical Government department
that was reviving the whole rural economy under the Second Republic.
Minister Shiri was instrumental in revamping the
agriculture sector to boost production through different projects and
programmes including the recently launched John Deere mechanisation programme.
“I have learnt with utter shock and a deep sense of grief
of the death early this morning of Air Chief Marshal (Rtd) Perrance Shiri, our
Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement after a short
illness.
“A stalwart of our war of National liberation, Cde Shiri
ranked high among our leading Zanla field commanders whose contribution to the
national Liberation Struggle was simply valiant and outstanding.
“His commitment to the liberation of his country and his
people amply showed when he alongside our Vice President General Constantino
Chiwenga abandoned his studies at Mt Saint Mary’s Mission School in Wedza in
1973, and defied all odds to join the Liberation Struggle at a very tender
age,” he said.
The President said after having been fully trained and
battle hardened, Cde Shiri rose through the ranks to become the overall
commander of Tete province, one of the hottest fronts during the fierce
country’s war of independence.
He said under his command, several spectacular missions
against the enemy were carried out among them the 1978 blasting of oil tanks in
Salisbury, itself the heart and citadel of the settler power.
“Indeed, that military action which was undertaken by a
specialised ZANLA Unit which he mentored reverberated well beyond the immediate
theatre of war and proved a turning point in our struggle for National
Liberation.
“After the struggle, he would continue serving his country
in the military including playing a salutary role in the integration process by
which erstwhile warring armies were reoriented and re-moulded into cohesive
National Army. Later, he would be redeployed to the Air Force of Zimbabwe,
becoming our second indigenous Air Force of Zimbabwe Commander after the late
Cde Josiah Tungamirai.
“While he discharged his onerous command duties he still
found time to further his education in the process acquiring several
professional qualifications and two masters degrees in the fields of business
and development. Always focused, hardworking and hands on, the late Minister
Shiri was key to revamping our food security. Barely a month ago, we launched
an agricultural equipment initiative he concluded with an American company John
Deere. We were before his untimely demise, planning to launch yet another of
his many initiatives on mechanisation this time with the republic of Belarus,”
he said.
“It was also during his short lived ministerial tenure that
he reached out to and opened negotiations with former white commercial farmers
with a view to breaking the impasse over the age old national land question.
Only this morning we signed a historic agreement with the former farmers itself
a crowning moment for his tireless efforts. Sadly, as fate would have it, he
would not live to witness this historic moment.
“On behalf of the party Zanu PF, Government, the Zimbabwe
Defence Forces of which he was a long standing member, my family and on my own
behalf, I wish to express my heartfelt condolences to the entire Shiri family
especially his children who now stand orphaned. As they go through the painful
motions of deep grief.
“I urge them to find comfort and solace in the
distinguished role and career of continuous service which their farther gave to
his country. He remains our hero, making his demise a blow we all keenly feel
and share. May his dear soul rest in eternal peace,’ he said.
In what was testimonial of Cde Shiri’s work as a Minister,
the President yesterday morning presided over the signing ceremony of the
historic US$3,5 billion Global Compensation Deed between Government and
representatives of white farmers after protracted negotiations in which Cde
Shiri played a pivotal role.
Born Bigboy Samson Chikerema on January 11 1955, ACM Shiri
grew up in Chikomba and joined Zanla as an 18-year-old rising to the High
Command in 1977.
At independence, he joined the Zimbabwe National Army and
was promoted to the rank of Brigadier in 1982.
He was later transfered to the Air Force of Zimbabwe as Air
Commodore in 1984 and in 1986, Cde Shiri took up a place at the Royal College
of Defence Studies in London, the defence institution that trains top British
officers.
After a spell as AFZ Chief of Staff in the rank of Air Vice
Marshal, he was appointed Commander of the Air Force of Zimbabwe in 1992 and
promoted to Air Marshal, the rank he held until his retirement when he was
given a step up to Air Chief Marshal on the retired list.As Minister in charge
of Agriculture, he played a major role in expanding the Command Agriculture
programme and ensuring its viability and success as it was converted into a
commercial programme backed by the Government.
Cde Shiri believed very strongly that Zimbabwean farmers
could lead economic growth and could become exceptionally productive.
He died at the time when he was spearheading the
Agricultural Recovery plan which included the Pfumvudza concept, which is meant
to boost household food security and ensure farming become a business to
smallholder farmers. Herald
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