Paul Nyathi|Government and the ruling ZANU PF party have turned deaf ears on the Zimbabwe Writers Association through the National Arts Council request for a national recognition of the late veteran award-winning author and actor Charles Mungoshi.

The council had requested for a hero’s recognition for Mungoshi based on his contributions to the Zimbabwean society and abroad.

Sources told ZimEye.com that ZANU PF advised the council to write to the party’s Mashonaland Central provincial executive with the request which then was to consider the request and submit it to the party’s politburo for final determination.

Meanwhile the family is going ahead with its preparations for burial and have announced that the veteran writer will be buried at his rural homestead in Chivhu on Tuesday afternoon.

Mungoshi died at the age of 71 at Parirenyatwa Hospital on Saturday after being ill for 10 years from a neurological condition.

At a funeral wake in Harare on Sunday, a family spokesperson Tendai Madondo thanked the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Monica Mutsvangwa and her husband, Ambassador Christopher Mutsvangwa, for personally donating food items towards the funeral.

“We would like to thank the (Zimbabwe) Writers’ Association, musicians, actors and celebrities who came to pay their respects to Charles Mungoshi. We heard some good testimonials from various people. Special mention goes to Minister Mutsvangwa and her family who donated all the foodstuffs to be used throughout to burial.

I would also like to thank Nyaradzo Funeral Services who also came in and donated other needs such as the hearse, casket, toilets, tents, chairs and tables among others,” she said.

Meanwhile,Minister Mutsvangwa, who was accompanied by her husband and Secretary for Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Nick Mangwana, said the literary giant has left behind a very rich heritage.

She described the late multi-award-winning author as a versatile and prolific writer.

In recent days, government took a different stance and began according national hero status to Zimbabweans who excelled outside the political spheres.

Academia Professor Phenius Makhurane and musician Doctor Oliver Mtukudzi were named National Heroes though their families asked for exemption from burial at the National Heroes Acre.