President Mnangagwa declared the late Professor Herbert Mapfumo Chinyanga a national hero, and he was expected to be buried today at the National Heroes Acre along with Retired Major General Richard Ruwodo.
However, his body will be cremated as per his wish.
Professor Chinyanga passed on in South Africa on July 2 at the age of 86.
He will be cremated in line with his wishes.
Speaking during the burial of Major General Ruwodo, President Mnangagwa said the life history of the late Professor Chinyanga is an epitaph of patriotism, integrity, humility, professional excellence and selfless service.
“He was a towering national and pioneering physician whose lifelong service helped to transform the specialisation of Anaesthesia, 6 advanced medical education and strengthened Zimbabwe’s healthcare system.”
Born on 26 July 1939 in the then Gwelo, now Gweru, the late National Hero, Professor Chinyanga, received primary education at Daramombe Mission between 1946 and 1952, before proceeding to Goromonzi Government School between 1953 and 1957.
He demonstrated exceptional academic ability from an early age.
During this period, a limited number of young people from the black majority, were allowed to access university education by the settler colonial administration.
Fortunately, the young Herbert had the chance to enroll at the then University of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, now University of Zimbabwe, to study Physics, Chemistry and Zoology.
His top-of-the-class grades earned him a prestigious World Health Organization Scholarship in 1960 to study medicine at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem where he obtained a Master of Science in Physiology and a Doctor of Medicine. He briefly worked in Ghana as a lecturer.
In 1973, he moved to Canada and trained as a specialist in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care. Through diligence and professional excellence, he qualified as a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada in 1978, later completing further fellowship training in Pain Management. He joined the University of Toronto and the internationally acclaimed Hospital for Sick Children, where he earned international recognition as an accomplished clinician, researcher and educator.
After Independence, the late Professor Chinyanga made a bold and defining decision that would forever shape Zimbabwe’s medical history.
He voluntarily left behind the prestige and opportunities of the developed world to come home to serve his country.
Our late National Hero, Professor Chinyanga, is a patriot and selfless cadre, who believed that knowledge, expertise and experience acquired, belonged first and foremost to our motherland, Zimbabwe. He held the view that an independent and sovereign nation had a duty to build its own capabilities in specialist medicine, rather than remain dependent on expatriate expertise.
In 1986, the late National Hero, Professor Chinyanga established Zimbabwe’s first postgraduate programmes for the Diploma and Master of Medicine in Anaesthetics at the University of Zimbabwe.
Through these programmes, he transformed a new specialty into one of Zimbabwe’s strongest medical disciplines.
This ensured safer surgery procedures, stronger intensive care services and improved patient outcomes for Zimbabweans. Beyond his area of speciality, the late Professor Chinyanga served as Chairman of the Department of Anaesthetics and later as Acting Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences.
He played pivotal roles in establishing the School of Medicine at the National University of Science and Technology as well as the School of Medicine at Midlands State University.
He provided grounded leadership and guidance to Zimbabwe’s pioneering open-heart surgery programme.
During his illustrious career, our National Hero, Professor Chinyanga also served as President of the Zimbabwe Anaesthetic Association as well as Chairman and Editor of the Central African Journal of Medicine and member of the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists.
He was a member of the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe and the Research Council of Zimbabwe.
In 2007, the University of Zimbabwe conferred him the distinguished title of Professor Emeritus, in recognition of his exceptional contribution to higher education and national development.
In 2025, the Zimbabwe Anaesthetic Association honoured him as the Father of Anaesthesia in our country.
This was an acknowledgment that the specialty he pioneered, continues to save lives through the crop of specialists he nurtured and trained.
The late National Hero, Professor Chinyanga retired from active service in December 2024.
We shall forever remember him and honour his contributions to humanity in the field of medicine, which spanned for close to forty years of uninterrupted service in our beloved motherland, Zimbabwe.
“The lives of our two gallant sons, the late Major General (Rtd) Ruwodo and Professor Chinyanga provide rich repository of service, from which the nation will learn about national sacrifice, professionalism, hard work and love for our motherland.
“I call upon all Zimbabweans across all fields of specialisations, in both the private and public sectors to emulate their exemplary service.
“Intellectuals are challenged to turn ideas, scientific thought and practice into tangible products and services that transform the lives of our people.
“Similarly, the ongoing knowledge driven revolution under the Second Republic, must see us create local solutions to address gaps in the various sectors of the economy.
“Under my Administration, all areas of specialisation, fields of work and professions, remain critical asserts and tools, at the nation’s disposal, that must be appropriately organized for building, modernising and industrialising our nation.”
