President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Friday bade farewell to late Agriculture Minister Perence Shiri, who was born Bigboy, Benjamin Samson Chikerema in 1955 in Chikomba District.

The President, Vice Presidents Constantino Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi, Cabinet ministers, Ministers of State, service chiefs, Zanu PF senior officials and representatives from Mashonaland Central Province formed part of the thin crowd that came to witness the burial.

Mnangagwa described Shiri as a great hero of the liberation struggle and a notable figure in post-independent Zimbabwe.

“We lost a patriot, a brave freedom fighter, a commander, a hardworking Minister of Government, a party stalwart and a disciplined and loyal cadre. We lost a great son of the soil.

“Bigboy Benjamin Samson Chikerema, better known as Comrade Perrance Shiri, is no more, snatched from us by the coronavirus. Shock, thus, grips us all, especially those who daily interacted with him in the course of discharging our duties,” he said.

President Mnangagwa said it was a painful time for the Chikerema family and those who associated and interacted with Minister Shiri both in wartime and peacetime, both in exile during the struggle, and here at home after our Independence.

“The war fostered bonds of blood, which forever made us a close family: hama dzeropa. Those bonds forged and sealed in struggle today snap and fail, as death divides us.

“We have been robbed; we are in pain, and share the loss with you, mhuri yekwa Shiri-Chikerema, vabereki vegamba redu. Please accept our deepest condolences,” he said.

He said during the second republic, Shiri worked hard to ensure national food security through different projects and was spearheading the Agriculture Recovery Programme that encompassed the Pfumvudza Concept, mechanisation, modernisation, irrigation development climate-proofing of our agriculture.

“He was “Mutumwa zvepedo”, he understood that strategy without execution is no strategy. He has left us that value and work ethic. The lasting tribute we should give to him is to carry on, from where he left,” he said.

Zanu PF Mashonaland Central Provincial chairperson Kazembe Kazembe described Minister Shiri as a unifier, arbitrator and a dedicated cadre who was people-centric whose void will be difficult to fill.

“He had a vision for the province to improve the livelihoods of people of Mashonaland Central, particularly Kanyemba and Rushinga.

Family spokesman, Mr Nimrod Chikara said although they spent with him only 17 years before he left the country to join the liberation struggle, they were proud of their son.

“The loss is not only to the Chikerema family but the party and nation as a whole. Benjamin was groomed by Zanu PF. We are proud that he remained loyal to his country until the end,” he said.